


These Feelings Mean Nothing

by YorkandDelta



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mutual Pining, Soulmates, unsupportive parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-17 10:45:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15459642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YorkandDelta/pseuds/YorkandDelta
Summary: Jeremy grew up believing in soulmates, only to discover that the rest of the world didn't. He realizes the strong negative emotions he couldn't control were more likely caused by mental illness than a magical connection to a Mrs. Right like his mother taught him.He joins a crew lead by partners fixated on revenge. Events he can't explain and a handsome crew member with a troubled past make him question just how impossible soul connections really are.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to make a Empathetic Soulmates AU but it ended up really discussing themes of mental illness. The last thing I want to do is dismiss or belittle people who experience mental illnesses, so please, if I say something wrong call me out. I am not writing from my own experience, but I want to be respectful of everyone else's. 
> 
> There is a character in this that experienced childhood abuse and trauma, which affects his mental state as an adult. Please, please let me know if the way I deal with this in this story is wrong. 
> 
> Love you all, and remember, mental illness is the same as every other illness. There should be no shame and no stigma about talking about it and accessing the resources that let you manage it. <3

Jeremy Dooley hated the idea of soulmates. His mother was an avid believer in them, even though she was a single mother for most of Jeremy’s life. She would squeal with delight whenever her son had one of his “funny feelings” because it clearly meant that there was someone out there for him who he had a special bond with. But Jeremy wished they would stop, because those feelings were always  _ awful _ . Shame, loneliness, anxiety, fear, even when he was in the middle of doing something he loved he would get hit with a wall of negative emotion. His mother explained to him that it meant his soulmate was having a bad day, so whenever he he got a bad “funny feeling” he should try extra hard to cheer people up. One day it might just be his soulmate who he helps! And Jeremy genuinely, truly believed her. Until he found out what mental illness was. 

It was an Earth shattering night on the internet. He discovered that not only was the idea of soulmates considered a fringe conspiracy theory likened to the Flat Earth Society or politicians-as-lizard-people, but also that the intrusive feelings he’d been having for as long as he can remember were the symptoms of any number of mental illnesses, some of which could be helped with treatment and medication. 

His mother disagreed. She refused to consider the fact that her son’s problems were anything but a magical link to his Mrs. Right. She refused to take him to a doctor. She was convinced pills would make him feel “too fuzzy” to find the person he was destined to be with and called him selfish for even thinking of doing that. 

Jeremy did what any reasonable person would do. He ran away. His first thought was to get to Canada, where he’d heard the health care was free, but with no money and no passport he had to start taking jobs where he could find them. He kept following work farther and farther South and it was no surprise that he eventually turned to crime to survive.

What was surprising is who he ended up working for. Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo. Operating as “The Fakes” the duo used to be the poster children for Soul Bond believers. Jeremy would know, his mom  _ had their poster _ . The two made the news outside of the tiny soulmate community after they suddenly disappeared, only to show up again years later on the America’s Most Wanted list. 

Now the two of them were putting together a crew for a mysterious job. They had a string of successful robberies and a good reputation in the criminal community. Word on the street was that this was going to be something big. Jeremy needed the cash payout that a job like that would get him, so he put his name in and started getting lower level jobs associated with the pair. By now he had a name for himself as both a stealthy thief and a competent brawler. His greatest skill was his versatility, getting the job done however his employer wanted. 

Jeremy must have made a good impression because he was invited to a meeting about the Big Job. 

It was in the back of a run-down pizza shop that inexplicably smelled like fish. There were six people around the table. Jeremy recognized Jack and Geoff from the pictures he had seen of them. Geoff Ramsey was a tall man with dark hair and sleepy blue eyes. He was dressed casually in sweatpants and an old shirt, but Jeremy knew it was because he was now a respected enough criminal that he could command respect no mater what he wore. Jack was a bright redhead. Her vibrant chin length hair was overshadowed by the colours in her tropical Hawaiian shirt. The outfit was completed with blue and white striped booty shorts that showed off her long legs. 

The rest of the people were strangers to him, so introductions were necessary. Gavin Free was a computer and surveillance wiz who had worked with Geoff on and off over the years. He was originally from England but had moved to America not long ago. Beside him was Michael Jones. He was their weapons specialist from New Jersey. He could use any firearm under the sun, including many that were supposed to be only available to the military. Finally was a man most people had only heard of in horror stories: The Vagabond. He was known as an efficient killer and mercenary. Most notably he was known for wearing a creepy skull mask at all times. There was a lot of speculation about why, but they say no one has seen his face and lived.

With their roles defined, they got down to planning. Geoff wouldn’t tell them what their ultimate goal was - not yet. He wanted to make sure they were trustworthy before revealing that secret to them. All they knew was that it was revenge on someone who had wronged him years ago. 

They were going to start small. Collecting ordinance and vehicles and making alliances with the local gangs. They weren’t looking to take over territory or control any illicit trade routes, just take someone down, so they didn’t need to worry about gang politics. Next they would start gathering intel and plan for the big infiltration. The final phase would be breaking into some kind of secure facility. 

Everyone agreed to the terms, even though they didn’t know exactly what that meant. Surprisingly everyone got along really well for six criminals from vastly different walks of life. Jack and Geoff had been partners for years, so that made sense, but Michael and Gavin clearly had some history together based on the easy familiarity between them. Geoff acted more like Gavin’s older brother than his boss and Jeremy learned that they had even lived together when Gavin stayed in America the first few times. Jack and Michael had a close bond, the redhead having been the one to discover and recruit the sharpshooter originally. Their friendships didn’t make Jeremy feel out of place. In fact, he was quickly welcomed by the younger two into their Team Lads. They hung out when they weren’t working. The two loved to go swimming and drink, sometimes at the same time, and they were happy to have Jeremy come along. None of their group was originally from Los Santos, and it didn’t seem like they had any friends in the city outside of their little group so there were frequent movie nights and game tournaments. 

The only outlier was the Vagabond. He kept himself to himself and Jeremy always felt anxious when he was around. He wasn’t hostile, just private, which Jeremy could respect. In spite of his antisocial tendencies, he clicked really well with the crew. He was always ready with a witty quip and he always rose to the bait when Jack antagonized him. Jeremy quickly learned that while Jack seemed like the mama-bear type, she was also a huge troll and was the best at subtly pushing someone’s buttons then standing back to watch them explode. A trick she used on the Vagabond continuously. Even though he would be aggravated at the time, Jeremy saw that it was actually helping the quiet man loosen up around the crew. He even started joining them when they hung out sometimes. Usually hanging in the back and not saying much. 

Since Jeremy was talking to crews who dabbled in drugs, he thought he should see if he could get something for the negative emotions that still would roll over him like waves when he least expected. He decided to ask some of the contacts the crew had been making if they would sell him something that would help. He was told that they didn’t usually sell that stuff but could get it in for him in a few days.  

When a few days had gone by and Jack asked him to go with her on a stake out he didn’t connect the two events. After a while of sitting in their discreet car in an awkward silence staring at a warehouse door Jack reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a baggie, which she dropped on Jeremy’s lap. 

“What is this?” He asked.

“I was hoping you would tell me. The Los Muertos said you ordered it when I went to talk to them today.”

“Oh! Don’t worry about it. They’re nothing. Just something to help me sleep.” Jeremy lied.

“Don’t bullshit me Dooley. We both know you don’t order sleeping pills from a cartel. What’s in the bag.”

“Seriously Jack! It’s nothing! It’s none of your business.”

She turned and glared at him. He had never seen her face with such a harsh expression and he was reminded that she was every bit as ruthless a criminal as her partner. “It’s my business if this habit of yours get one of us killed. What drugs are those!”

“It isn’t a habit! I don’t have a fucking addiction. This isn’t going to hurt anyone else.” Jack looked like she was going to interrupt so Jeremy just bust out. “They’re antidepressants! Happy now?!”

Jack stared at him. Mouth hanging open. She recovered and looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry for pushing Jeremy. I just want everyone to be at their best. I didn’t know you were on meds.”

Jeremy fiddled with the baggy. He understood where Jack was coming from, so he wasn’t upset with her, he was just hoping to keep his pills a secret. “I’m not on meds. I just wanted to try these to see if they helped.”

“What! Jeremy, no! You can’t just take random pills, you have to go to a doctor!”

“I tried that! They won’t give you anything unless you go to a therapist first! I’ve never had the money to do that! I just want it to stop!”

Jack looked serous and she put her hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “I get that, I really, really do. But antidepressants have some horrible side effects. Switching meds… It can increase thoughts of suicide. It isn’t healthy. Please, I know a good doctor who won’t rat out the crew. Go to her instead of relying on gangs to get you drugs. Please Jeremy?”

Jeremy sighed and looked down at his lap. He knew Jack was telling the truth, but he had wanted a quick fix. “Ok. I will.” He pushed the pills back in the glove compartment.

“Do you want to talk about it? Is there anything I can do to make things easier?”

“No. Ever since I was a kid I’ve just gotten these awful feelings out of nowhere. One minute I’m a typical happy kid then the next I’m hit by a wall of anxiety or fear. I didn’t know how to cope with that and my family…” He left the thought unfinished. The last perspn he had explained this to was his mother, and the only thing she did insist he was wrong. 

“You know,” Jack said with a thoughtful look. “That sounds really familiar. Did anyone ever tell you how our crew got it’s name?” Jeremy shook his head. “Geoff and I have been called fakers ever since we met. And we met young. I think I was ten years old when I first saw him. From the minute we spoke, I knew we had a connection. I also would get emotions I didn’t think were mine, and Geoff felt them too, we discovered pretty quickly that -”

“NO! Shut up!” Jeremy covered his ears with his hands. He'd heard this story a million times. “That isn’t  _ true _ ! I want  _ help _ not some fairy tale!”

“Jeremy?”

“That is what my mother used to tell me. For eighteen years she fed me that soulmate  _ bullshit _ and I can’t take it anymore.”

There was silence in the car.

Jack was the first one to break it. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’ll get you the number for the doctor.”

Jeremy just stared out the window. They sat in awkward silence for the rest of their shift. 


	2. Chapter 2

Jeremy did end up calling that doctor. The sessions started out with talking and getting to know each other, but soon they moved on to talking about healthy coping mechanisms and what to do when his anxiety was so bad it caused panic attacks. She explained that she wanted to know more about his symptoms before giving him a diagnosis and drugs and Jeremy believed her that it would do more harm than good for her to put him on the wrong drug. He would just have to be patient for a little while longer. He didn’t expect immediate improvement, therapy wasn’t supposed to be a magic fix, but he was really excited to see if there would be improvement soon. He really wanted there to be less anxiety in his life.

Unfortunately for him, anxiety wasn’t the only unexplained emotion that crashed into his psyche uninvited, as he was abruptly reminded one night. On a night he was on a stake out. With the Vagabond.

They were hiding in an alley outside the base of one of the scummier gangs in the city. They were building relations with the rivals of this gang, so they had agreed to take out one of their rival’s members. Intel said he was unlikely to show up at this warehouse, so most of the other guys were waiting to ambush him at his house. Jeremy and the Vagabond were here just in case he changed his plans, or in case he was able to call for back up before the crew took him out. 

Knowing they were probably not going to see any action made the wait super boring. Jeremy wouldn’t lie, he was mostly daydreaming about the car he was planning on buying when he got the chance. It started to drizzle and the wind was picking up. He wondered if it would turn into a full shower. The two of them were hiding in an small space, so they weren’t going to get too wet for now. 

Jeremy’s thoughts turned to the hot drink he would make himself and the video game he was planning on picking up when he could finally get home when all of a sudden he started to feel really turned on. He was a young man, so he was no stranger to an awkward boner, but now was  _ really not the time _ . He tried to focus on the cold wind seeping through his jacket but that didn’t help. He was getting increasingly hot and bothered. He shifted where he stood, hoping to shield his predicament from his companion. He swore he could feel the Vagabond’s eyes boring into the back of his head and he couldn’t help his blush. 

The tension stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. Jeremy fought the urge to squirm and readjust himself. No matter what he did he couldn’t fight the arousal pooling in his gut. Finally,  _ finally _ , their phones pinged with the message telling them the others had caught the guy. They were told to wait ten minutes before leaving, just to watch and make sure the cavalry didn’t burst out of the base. 

During that time Jeremy managed to calm himself down so that he wouldn’t have to make the awkward waddle back to the car. The Vagabond either didn’t notice or was too professional to bring up his trouble. Jeremy knew he was lucky, any other member of the crew would have teased him mercilessly if they found out. 

He really needed to go out and find someone if he was this pent up. 

Prepping for the Big Job mean acquiring cars and weapons. Those things didn’t come cheap, so they were also planning heists and robberies to pay for everything. The latest job was robbing a bank. 

They were divided into three teams: 

Gavin and Michael were on infiltration. Gavin was hacking systems, unlocking doors, and taking out cameras on their way to the safes. Michael was going to make the big safe go big boom.

Geoff and Ryan were going to loiter around the lobby. When Michael gave the signal Geoff was going to empty a clip in the ceiling, hopefully disguising the sounds of Michael’s bomb. Then he and Ryan would hold up the tellers and control the hostages respectively. 

Jack and Jeremy were outside. Jack was in the van monitoring police activity and ready for their escape. Jeremy was in the second story of the building beside the bank, ready to lay down cover fire if the police rolled up. 

Everything was going according to plan. They had comms and were able to get the timing perfectly. The police showed up right on schedule too, and were pinned down between Jack and Jeremy.

Suddenly there was a buzzing and popping in Jeremy’s ear followed by ear splitting feedback. He clawed at his ear to remove his comm. In his moment of panic the police were able to creep closer to the bank. He went back to firing, but he didn’t have a good angle anymore. 

The doors of the bank burst open and the hostages started running out. Jeremy’s heart jumped to his throat, he had no idea what was going on! He scanned the scene for Jack and saw here waving to him and motioning for him to join her.

He flew down the stairs and met up with Jack in an adjacent alley. He dove into the waiting bullet proof car.  

“What’s going on!? Where is everyone else?” He panted.

“The pigs are using a jammer. It cut out our comms. Geoff’s sending Vagabond out to us and he is going to get Michael and Gavin out. We’ll meet them around back.” She sounded remarkably calm. The masked mercenary joined them seconds later. 

“Geoff says he’ll get Gavin and Michael out, we need to meet them at the back!” He said, checking the clip on his gun. 

“On it!” Jack said, and they whipped around the corner.

The cops hadn’t surrounded the building yet, so the two men got out and took cover. They waited with bated breath. Then Jack was yelling. “Back in the car! Change of plans!”

They got back in the car which raced around the corner just in time to watch Gavin drop from an upper story window onto a dumpster. Michael was already on the ground and Geoff followed them soon after. The three jumped in the car and Jack peeled away. By this point the cops had come around the bank and were in hot pursuit.

Jeremy’s adrenaline fueled brain doesn’t let him remember much of the chase, just bullets flying and tires squealing. They eventually made it to the subway tunnels where they ditched the heist car and got into different vehicles. They split up but made it back to the wherehouse before midnight. 

Even with the jammer, it was a successful heist. The infiltration crew had managed to open a bunch of safe deposit boxes as well as the main vault. Geoff and Ryan had an unexpectedly high take from the tellers as well, it must have been a good day for the bank. Until they got there, that is. 

They debriefed as they counted out everyone’s share. They discussed what happened with the comms. Apparently the LSPD was wising up to their tactics and had invested in a signal scrambler which completely blocked their communicators. Gavin had run into this problem before, and actually had a solution that involved somehow routing the coms through their phones instead of using radio waves. It went over Jeremy’s head, but he trusted his crewmate. 

He was also too busy puzzling out how Jack was able to know what Geoff’s plans were. Even without the comms she knew his plans without the Vagabond telling her, and she knew that those plans had changed when the guys were forced to go to an upper story to escape. He heard his mother’s voice whisper  _ Because they’re soulmates!  _ But even the most faithful believers agreed the connection was only for emotion, not communication. 

Gavin was the one to give voice to Jeremy’s thoughts. It seems Geoff had acted just as strangely inside, knowing that Jack would be there when there was no way for him to have done so. 

Geoff started to answer, but stopped himself and shot a look at  _ Jeremy _ of all people. Jack spoke up. “We’ve been in situations like that before. Working together for so long, you get a sense of what people will do. We’ll tell you more about it soon.”

Geoff continued. “After this we’ll be starting the next phase. Everyone take the next two weeks off and then Jack and I will tell you about our target.”

The rest of the team accepted that answer. They started to gather their stuff and leave. Michael and Gavin were talking about going to a club to celebrate. Jeremy was going to join them, but he felt a hand touch his shoulder and he turned to see Jack smiling sadly at him. 

“Can we talk for a minute Jeremy?” She asked.

Jeremy nodded and followed her out of the room. He noticed Geoff and Ryan exiting together from a different door. Jack brought him to the break area where some couches were grouped together around a TV. They sat on different couches. Jeremy couldn’t help notice Jack looked nervous.

“I know we didn’t really talk about it, but...You know about the soulmate myth.”

_ Oh, this is what we’re talking about _ . Jeremy frowned and answered truthfully. “My mother believed it. I thought it was true for so long.”

Jack sighed. “What is true for some may not be true for others. It’s a funny world that way.” There was silence between them. “Jeremy...There is something I want to talk to you about before we tell everyone our target for the heist.” She paused again, like she was unsure how to continue. “I’m not asking you to believe in soulmates. And I am certainly not telling you that what you’ve experienced has anything to do with what I have... I guess I’m giving you an out. If you don’t want to hear this...I think it is better if you left the crew before we tell you what the heist is. We need people who are on our side.”

Jeremy felt cold. After all this time, all these  _ months _ of working together? Jack didn’t trust him to be on their side? Did Geoff think so too?

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jack held up her hand and kept talking. “Geoff and I  _ are _ soulmates. We can pick up on each other’s emotions no matter how far apart. The longer we’ve been together the clearer it is to each other. It has helped us become who we are today. Our whole lives, very few people have believed us, and some of the ones that did, well… We’ll tell you more about that if you choose to stay. I’m not telling you what to believe. You don’t have to think it is some kind of, what did you call it? Fairy tale? But Geoff and I do share some connection, regardless of the cause.” 

Jack waited a moment for the information to sink in. “It wasn’t fair of me to push that belief on to you the other day. I’m sorry I did, it was because I didn’t know your history. I just knew how confused I was when it happened to me and I wanted to help if I could. But you know yourself and how you feel better than anyone, and I admire and respect how strong you are to get yourself help and work through it. I’m really proud of you.” She smiled, a sadness still in her eyes. “This is your choice Jeremy. If you won’t feel comfortable working for us when we talk about our connection then you don’t have to. I for one want you to stay. You get along great with everyone, you are always such a delight to work with and you bring so much to the crew. But I also can’t be around someone who can’t accept who I am.” She stopped and waited for Jeremy’s answer. 

It took him a moment to work through what she said. He thought about his options, staying or leaving. Finally he looked up at Jack. “I still don’t believe it. I just can’t believe the world works that way, I’m sorry. But I do want to stay so I am going to trust you. I can accept that you and Geoff know each other well enough to know how the other is feeling without having to believe in the supernatural cause. Is that ok?”

Jack smiled and said “Sure Jeremy, that will work just fine.” She ruffled his hair and said goodbye. 

He was almost at his car when it hit. Fear, doubt, anxiety, panic. He was so overwhelmed he couldn’t breathe. He stumbled to the cars and tried to open the door, just wanting to curl up and let the panic flow through him, consume him. He scrambled uselessly at the car door before giving up and slumping to the ground, trying to choke in air. He saw a person coming towards him and his anxiety spiked. Worry and fear took over his brain as hands grabbed him, he couldn’t make out the face. 

He did recognize the voice. “What’s happening, Jeremy? Are you hurt? What’s wrong?” Jeremy looked up to see a skull hovering inches from his face, but instead of scaring him he felt calmer. Enough to remember the advice from his therapist. He closed his eyes, clutched at the arm holding him and took a deep breath in. Then out. He focused on his breathing and the feeling of the car on his back and the strong hands that had started to rub his arm. 

Eventually he felt his heart rate slow. He forced his tense muscles to relax before looking up at the Vagabond. He smiled weakly and said “I’m sorry. I’m ok now.” He tried standing but the masked man didn’t let him up.

“What happened? Are you alright?”

Jeremy sighed. “Yeah. Panic attack. I get them a lot. Don’t worry, I’ve started seeing someone about it.”

“You are?” A pause. “Does it help?”

Jeremy nodded. “Woulda taken me a lot longer to feel better before. Having someone to talk to definitely helps” This time Vagabond did let him stand. He was still shaky. 

As he was turning away the mercenary spoke. “I drive… Uh… I go for drives when I’m upset. It helps me forget.” Jeremy looked at him and saw the tension in his frame. “Do you want… to come with me?”

Jeremy nodded. The Vagabond took out his keys and unlocked the car beside them. Now that he was in his right mind Jeremy realized it wasn’t even his car he had been trying to get into. He climbed into the passenger seat and dropped his head against the headrest. Exhaustion seeping through him like it always did. He heard the Vagabond close his door and turn on the car. 

They were already on the outskirts of town, so it didn’t take them long to get to the desert. As soon as they were off the roads the Vagabond put his foot down and they shot off into the night. The pure speed took over his senses and he felt exhilarated. They drove in silence for what seemed like hours before the driver pointed the car towards the mountain. Driving with purpose now, they ended up at the top of a cliff. The Vagabond stopped and turned off the car. The two men stepped out and Jeremy followed his companion to the edge where they sat and looked at the city shining bright in the distance. For a moment Jeremy couldn’t help feeling small and alone, but then he glanced at the man beside him and remembered that there were people who cared about him.

For a long while they sat in silence. It was the Vagabond who finally broke it. “What was it? That upset you?”

“I don’t know. I was talking to Jack about something, but I didn’t think it affected me that much. She wanted to make sure I was comfortable staying in the crew or if I wanted to leave.”

The man beside him started and whipped his head around to look at him. “Would you?” He asked. “Leave?”

“No. I told her I’d stay. Most of the time there isn’t a reason for it. They just happen. I’m learning to control it.”

There was quiet again. 

“Geoff asked me the same thing.” Jeremy turned to look at him. “If I, uh, wanted to stay.”

“Why’s that?” He asked.

“He said for the next part we may need to go undercover. I can’t do that, with, you know, the mask.”

“Oh. So… What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know.”

Jeremy was surprised. He had assumed it would be a hard no. The Vagabond wouldn’t show his face and that would be that.

“I wear it because… I have good reasons…” He sounded choked

“Hey buddy, it’s ok. I know you do. It’s alright.” Unconsciously Jeremy started to rub the other man’s back. “Did he give you a choice or did he force you to take it off?”

“No, he gave me a choice. But he did say that if I don’t take it off then there wouldn’t be much I could do with the main crew. I can still stay. Keep up the weapons deals and stuff.”

“Do you know why?” The Vagabond shook his head. “It’s because he wants you to feel comfortable.” After all, that is what Jack told him. It was probably true for the mercenary as well. Jack and Geoff treated their team right. “If they were assholes it would be ‘take it off or get out’ but they care about all of us, you know? They don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, that you aren’t safe. They want you to trust them first. So don’t stress about this. And I’m sure there’s no time limit. Just whenever you’re ready.”

The Vagabond nodded and they sat in silence for a little longer. Jeremy started to drift off until he felt a hand on his shoulder guiding him to the car. He slept through the drive home and was still half in dreamland when they got to his place. He woke right up when the Vagabond came out of the car, put both hands on Jeremy’s shoulders and looked him in the eye as he told him “Thank you Jeremy. You’re right, talking did help."

Jeremy pat one of the hands. “Any time buddy! And if you like I can get you the number for the therapist. She’s great.”

Jeremy passed out as soon as his face hit the pillow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if this counts as a spoiler because it's in the tags... But I like to think Ryan got bored on that stake out and started to imagine what it would be like to make out with Jeremy against the wall of the alley. And from there he started some less PG fantasies about what he could do to Jeremy against the wall of the alley, completely unaware of what trouble he was giving the other man.


	3. Chapter 3

The next week and a half were nice. Jeremy spent a lot of time just hanging out and relaxing. He saw Michael and Gavin a lot, and Jack and Geoff a little because they were still organizing all of the heist stuff. 

One day though he just knew it wasn’t going to be his day. He was nervous and jittery, as if he had too many energy drinks, except he hadn’t had  _ any _ .

When his phone lit up with a text from the Vagabond that just said “Drive?” Jeremy couldn’t help but agree. 

He waited outside. Nervously kicking his leg against the low brick wall. The Vagabond’s car pulled up beside him. Without a thought he hopped in, only to come face to face with a stranger. 

A handsome stranger.

“Hi Jeremy.” Said the man in the Vagabond’s voice.

“Oh my god.” Said Jeremy.

“No need for that, you can just call me Ryan.”

Jeremy stared dumbfounded. The man- Ryan- bit his lips nervously. Jeremy was amazed how he could actually see his teammate’s expression. Eventually he smiled. “Well Ryan, you promised me a drive.”

Ryan chuckled nervously and drove off. Jeremy launched into story about how he spent the other day watching Gavin coerce Michael into doin increasingly ridiculous stunts on his new bike until he wrecked it. Ryan’s laugh became more and more comfortable. They started trading stories of their own car accidents. It seemed like neither of them were great drivers, especially in high speed car chases. 

Ryan told him that he was planning on showing the crew his face. He said he enjoyed working with the crew enough to go against his decision to only work short term contracts. He was still nervous about going maskless because he hadn’t done it in so long. Jeremy felt honoured that Ryan decided to test the waters with him, although he jokingly resented Ryan’s comments that he had experience with baby steps because he had short legs. 

The two had fun. It was nice to see the expressions on his friend’s - admittedly handsome - face. When they parted ways again Jeremy said goodbye with a huge smile on his face, and was pleased that Ryan wore one to match.

Knowing Ryan would show up to the heist planning meeting without his mask gave Jeremy a secret thrill. He made sure to be on time to get front row seats to the show. 

The crew was outside the warehouse admiring the upgrades to an armoured car they had stolen a month ago when the Vagabond’s motorcycle rolled up. The bike stopped and the rider dismounted. He pulled off his helmet. Some of his long black hair had fallen out of his low ponytail and he shook it out of his eyes with a shampoo commercial toss of his head. Jeremy had to remind himself not to stare at the unfamiliar sight and turn his attention to his crewmates. They started in shock as the strange face smiled at them shyly. Jeremy broke the silence with a “Hey Ryan! You’re late dude!” That broke the spell and soon Ryan was being flooded with questions. Gavin even went up and stroked his beard, which had Jeremy snorting through his nose. Eventually the crew calmed down and went inside. In the doorway Jeremy grabbed Ryan’s elbow. He made sure his voice was low enough not to carry. “You did great man! Proud of you.” The Vagabond smiled and Jeremy felt a rush of affection sweep over him. Damn, who knew the mask was hiding such a pretty face.

Once everyone was sitting around the planning table the mood turned serious. They all looked to Jack and Geoff expectantly.

The tattooed leader clapped his hands in front of him and said. “So. Lets begin at the beginning. There isn’t really an easy way to say this but diving right in. Jack and I are soulmates.”

“Aww Geoffrey! Are you getting married?”

“Can it Gavin, this is serious.” The british man pouted and slumped in his chair.

Geoff pinched his nose and continued. “I know most of you probably won’t believe us. Only a very few people do. But sometimes when two people really care about each other they they can start to feel the emotions of another person. That is what we call soulmates. Jack and I can do that. Been able to since we were kids.”

The room was quiet for once, so Geoff and Jack started to tell their story. It had happened when they were still in school. Their parents, teachers, and friends didn’t believe them, but no one could explain how Geoff knew when Jack had fallen off her bike on her way to school one day and needed help. Or how Jack knew Geoff had been cornered by bullies to be able to get a teacher involved.

Eventually their parents took them to doctors, psychiatrists, you name it. They started to get media attention, especially in places where the Soulmate conspiracy was more popular. Eventually they attracted the attention of the scientific and academic communities. Various doctors had run experiments on them, all of them full of doubt and coming up with different explanations on how the pair would know what was happening to the other, even when they were seperated, even when they were in different  _ states _ . The scientists couldn’t explain how they did it, but they still called the pair fakes. 

Finally they attracted the attention of John Edgars. He was a scientist for the military. By this time Jack and Geoff were adults, so they no longer needed parental approval for the tests. Edgars was different from the other scientists. He actually believed them. He told them he had met others like them. He offered to help them learn more about themselves, and they trusted him.

It was a big mistake. Edgars was a man with a curious mind who wouldn’t let something like  _ morals _ and  _ ethics _ get in the way of his quest for knowledge. And his target was the soul bonds. Jack and Geoff had one of the strongest connections he had ever found, and he wanted to test it’s limits. They were seperated and tortured. One would be subjected to various medical tests, MRIs, CAT scans, heart rate monitors, while the other was put through brutal pain. And he taunted them. Wanted to see if he could make it so that hurting one would make the injuries appear on the other. Told them they clearly didn’t love each other if they let their lover feel pain. The final straw was when he announced he wanted to know what would happen when killed just one of them. How long would the other maintain the link?

But he underestimated Jack and Geoff. Even after the months of abuse they were strong enough to escape. They got out, but Geoff swore revenge on Edgars. 

“It’s his white whale.” Joked Jack. 

“So that’s the plan then? Break into some weird Area 51 secret government facility and kill the guy?”

“No,” Geoff shook his head. “We’re going to expose him. Steal his research, leak it to the media. Burn down everything he’s built in front of his eyes.” He stared at them grimly. “And then kill him.”

Michael whooped and banged on the table. “That is what I like to hear!”

The crew had lots of questions about soulmates and how they worked. Jeremy tuned it out. He knew well enough by now. He still didn’t believe it, but both Geoff and Jack were adamant about their story. He wondered how much of that was caused by their extensive captivity and abuse. Gavin believed them completely. He even got wispy eyes when he started to wonder if he would ever meet someone who he had such a deep connection with. Michael, it turned out, had already heard of the conspiracy, and while he was still skeptical he had a kind of hero worship for his bosses that didn’t let him doubt their story. Jeremy didn’t get a sense of how Ryan felt about it since the man was as quiet as ever around the other crew members.

Knowing more about the details, the crew was able to plan their next steps. They needed more information, both to use to eventually infiltrate the military base and as part of the package they’d give to the media. It meant a lot of undercover and covert jobs. It meant fake IDs and believable backstories. This part was going to be  _ fun _ . 

The first target was going to be the City Hall archives. The military base that Edgars used was in the desert close to Los Santos. The likelihood of finding any records of the base were slim to none, they were almost certainly classified, but they hoped to get names and dates that would help them for when they broke into the government records. There was even a chance to find info on Edgars if he ever registered a car or owned property in town. 

Jeremy was more actively involved in the planning of this heist, since he had some experience breaking into places and leaving no trace. He was working at the base one night when something strange happened. He and Gavin were both sitting at the kitchen table working. He was looking over some old floor plans and Gavin had everyone’s phones spread out in front of him. He was working at installing some kind of software that would allow them to use coms without the police being able to jamb the signal. The explanation went right over Jeremy’s head but he trusted the techie. 

Jack walked into the kitchen and started making coffee. She must have had a long day because her expression was unusually sombre and it was much later in the day than she usually had coffee. The machine was happily gurgling away when Jack called out. “What kind of FUCKING ANIMAL put an empty milk carton back in the fridge?” She rounded on the two of them to see Gavin, eyes wide, an empty glass with milky residue on the sides in front of him. Without a word Jack stormed out of the kitchen, coffee mug abandoned. 

Not ten minutes later Geoff appeared in the kitchen carrying bags from the local corner store. 

“Geoffrey!” Gavin called out. “I thought you were inspecting the new vehicles for the rest of the day!”

“Yeah well,” he answered, “I heard there was a coffee incident.” He was passing Gavin and swatted him upside the head on his way. “You  _ never _ want to see Jack without her coffee, believe me!” He made sure the pot was still warm and poured a fresh mug. He topped it up with the milk he had just bought and sugar and left to deliver it to Jack. 

On his way back out Gavin called to him again. “Your phone is done, by the way. You can have it back.” 

Jeremy stared at the door after it had closed behind Geoff for a minute. Finally he shook his head and asked. “Hey Gav?”

“Yeah Lil J?”

“Does Geoff have two phones?”

“No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“No reason.”  _ How did Geoff know about the milk? _ Even if you accepted the soulmate theory… That just didn’t make sense! Something strange was going on between their leaders, but Jeremy had no idea what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This already has more hits than my last fic...which I think it really sad because I really liked that one. Maybe because it was a rare pair?


	4. Chapter 4

Phase two of Operation Mouldy Dick (named because Jack would not stop calling John Edgars Geoff’s white whale) was going really well. The crew had to expand to keep everything running smoothly. Geoff hired a “B Team” to look after the money laundering, weapons, and vehicle acquisitions. The main crew would work with the B Team for heists to keep their operation afloat, but anything to do with info about John Edgars and soul bonds were kept strictly between the six of them. Jeremy liked his new coworkers. He clicked particularly well with a hacker named Matt and a con man named Trevor. Everyone was kept busy but they still tried to hang out when they had downtime. Jeremy was sure they had the only crew with weekly barbeque and Mario Party nights, and he’s certain none of their allies every played Monopoly or Uno to the point of screaming matches breaking out.

One of the best ‘team bonding’ times was the time he spent with Ryan. Whenever either of them was feeling down they would just text and go for a car ride that always ended in them sitting somewhere and talking. He told Ryan about his very religious upbringing that included learning about how God would link a man and a woman together through soul connections. He talked about his struggle realizing that he didn’t believe in any part of that. 

In turn Ryan told him about his childhood. His mother had been an addict and she brought home a string of men to help support her in her habits. Only a very few of them had been kind to the small child living in the house, but good or bad none stayed for long. 

They talked about their therapy sessions. Ryan had started going not long after Jeremy. It seemed like this therapist could become the Fakes private shrink if she wanted to. Ryan was very quickly diagnosed with PTSD from his childhood trauma as well as Dissociative Disorder. These both caused him to have anxiety attacks and caused him to act out violently. He was put on medication to help him manage it, and it was doing wonders for him.

Jeremy’s sessions were going also going well. His therapist still wasn’t sure what the root of his intrusive emotions were because none of the traditional diagnosis seemed to fit exactly. However, it seemed like the therapy and having a supportive friend base like the Fakes and especially Ryan were enough that his “funny feelings” had all but disappeared, and became completely manageable when he did experience them. Things were looking pretty perfect.

And Jeremy was terrified he was going to ruin it. 

See, Jeremy had gone and done something people usually warn you not to do, he fell in love with his best friend. 

But they weren't just best friends. They were coworkers and criminals and each other’s confidants. All of those things should have made Ryan off limits, but the heart knows no limits when it comes to love.

The fear came from the distinct possibility of ruining everything he had with the other man if he ever found out. This wasn’t a situation where Ryan could just reject him and they would move on. Doing jobs would become awkward, they would lose that easy friendship Jeremy cherished, and most importantly both of them would lose someone they felt comfortable sharing all of the problems with their pasts. Jeremy didn’t want Ryan thinking that he was only valuable to him if the other man returned his affection. He wanted to continue being someone Ryan could trust and come to when he needed it. 

So Jeremy decided to keep quiet about it. He didn’t even really have anyone he could talk to about his trouble. All his friends were in the gang and they were all terrible people who would try to start matchmaking them together. Anyone, with the possible exception of Jack, would spill the beans to Ryan immediately, by accident or not. He could talk to his therapist, but somehow whining about his love life didn’t seem like the most productive thing to do. He ended up needing to, however, because his crush made him extremely nervous and flustered around Ryan at times. 

Sometimes, when it was just the two of them, he would smile at Ryan and the butterflies in is stomach would twist and turn into knives. He would be hit by a wall of sadness and insecurity that tainted their time together. He tried not to let it affect him when they hung out. Ryan didn’t deserve him being a flake just because Jeremy had a useless gay crush on the guy. Jeremy especially didn’t want it affecting they way they worked together. Their next mission was just the two of them sneaking into Humane Labs and they had to be perfectly in sync. 

Geoff told them that during his time being held prisoner by Edgars he was injected with a variety of drugs. One time he had seen the packaging and later was able to connect the logo to a local pharmaceutical company. Military operations would have been able to erase and hide most of their info from other records behind a wall of red tape, but the Labs may have records of what they sold and some contact information that would really help them out. Unfortunately none of the company’s records were kept on servers with an internet connection so if they wanted to know what was on them, or on the hard copy versions, they would have to break in. They didn’t want to alert Edgars about what they were planning, so they needed stealth to steal the info. 

Jeremy wasn’t sure why it was himself and Ryan chosen for this job. Jack and Geoff would have known better what they were looking for, but some of the stories he’d heard of their previous jobs showed that Geoff didn’t really do subtlety. Jack could still have done it, even though Jeremy noticed she tended to take more background roles in heists for some reason. Also, if either of them were caught it would certainly tip off Edgars about what was going on. Michael was obviously out, this wasn’t a shooty mission so his talents weren’t really needed. Gavin would have been good to break into their security, but he claimed he was able to do it remotely once the two of them could access a specific electrical panel. He and Ryan individually both had good track records for infiltration, but obviously the Vagabond had a much bigger and better reputation for it. Jeremy knew he would be the weak link here. 

The plan was simple: break in, avoid the guards, take out the cameras, plant a bunch of bugs for Gavin, then find and photograph as many relevant files as they could without alerting the guards.

Their infiltration spot was carefully selected. It was on the side of the labs against the mountain. There was a small shrubby area that had an outcropping that Jack could hide behind with equipment to get them over the fence and help them with evac. Earlier in the day Michael used an air gun and took out the light in that area to give them better cover. 

They brought a plank of plywood that stretched from the part of the mountain closest to the fence and used it to get over the barbed wire. They dropped into the compound and Jack retracted the wood. They were using short-range comms as well as the cell phone ones Gavin had rigged up because they knew the inside of the building was a dead zone for cell phone coverage but they weren’t worried about the old fashioned walkie talkie style. It meant that as soon as they were inside the building they would be on their own but once they came out for extraction Jack would hear them and get ready to pull out their barbed wire bridge. 

They located the small building with the electrical panel on its roof and waited for the right time in the guard’s rotation to use grappling hooks to get to the top. Jeremy was the one to climb up the rope because the crew discovered he was actually in better shape than most of the other crew members, and had done gymnastics when he was younger which helped him with his strength. Jeremy wasn’t happy with this plan (and even less with the teasing) because he had always been afraid of heights and really didn’t understand how Gavin’s bugs worked. He managed to get to the roof of the security building no problem and Gavin lead him to the right panel. He undid the screws holding it in place and Gavin told him which wire to plant the bug on. They were just tiny things, no bigger than a piece of chewing gum. Put them on a power source and they could tap into nearby devices. The crew had them specially ordered from Chinese smugglers. Once Jeremy got the ok from Gavin that the bug was working and the all clear from Ryan that there were no guards in sight Jeremy shimmied back down the rope. 

Next they located the door they would use to break into the facility. 

“Eagle Two, are we all clear?” asked the Vagabond during a break in the guard rotation.

“Yes, I’ve taken out the cameras and disarmed the alarm. You should be fine to move around the building from here on out. Good luck lads!” Said Gavin.

They pushed open the door and soundlessly slipped into the building. They had no idea what to expect for guards inside, but they hoped there wouldn’t be very many since they had so many (but clearly not enough) on the outside and live camera surveillance which Gavin was looping. Based on the floor plans Jeremy had studied he knew the servers were kept in the basement level. They had a circular route to reach it, but thankfully Gavin was right and all of the locked doors opened for them like a breeze. They did have to sneak past a couple guards, and even had to use an alternate route when they came across two of them discussing the latest football game in the hallway they needed, but eventually they made it to the server room. 

Jeremy needed to go by memory from the pictures Gavin had shown him of where the best spot would be. It had to be hidden well enough that it won’t immediately be found, but also had to connect to a power source. Jeremy picked one of the stacks in the middle of the room and hoped for the best. They planted two more, just in case. Gavin was stationed in a stolen cable repair van not to far away with Geoff so he could start pulling information out of the servers as soon as he could. These were priority number one and any extras they were able to find was a bonus. 

Their way to the offices at the top of the building were uneventful. This time they stopped at every single bathroom to plant more bugs. These ones were designed to hack into phones and download all the information to transmit to an offsite computer. Putting them in the bathrooms should give them access to everyone in the building at some point.

Jeremy and Ryan finally reached the top floor. They didn’t even try getting into the director’s office, but they were able to get into his secretary’s. Ryan kept watch while Jeremy trolled through all the files. Eventually he came across files with the name  _ Project X _ attached to it. Jeremy snorted and called Ryan over to take a look. “What do you think about that one?”

“Well it’s a stupid name. Do you want to try it?”

“It is though! Who names a top secret project  _ Project X _ ? That is just announcing itself to the world.”

The job was assigned to Phillip Redman. They took a while locating his work space. It was on a lower floor in an open concept office. The employees didn’t seem to be in the habit of using name tags on their desks so it was a guessing game as to who sat where. Eventually they spotted a stack of business cards with his name on it, but by now their window of time was running out. Jeremy booted up the computer and Ryan started on the filing cabinet. Jeremy planted yet another bug. Things on Gavin’s end must have been going well because he saw the password get typed remotely and he was in. He skimmed the files that were on the computer but he didn’t find anything relating to Project X. Ryan was having similar luck. The files were all a mess. There was no organization to anything. A lot of files had random names that looked like keyboard mashes. Redman either would use excessive files in files in files or none at all. Jeremy didn’t know if it was intentionally confusing or if the dude was just disorganized. 

Suddenly they heard a door opening. Instinctively Jeremy ducked out of sight and he saw the Vagabond doing the same. The open space was against them and Jeremy knew that the glow of the computer screen in the dark room would give them away. 

He locked eyes with Ryan and held his breath. Someone called out “Hello?” and footsteps started coming towards them. Jeremy saw the Vagabond take a deep breath and then rise from cover and shoot the person coming towards them. The silenced shot was still loud in the quiet space, but not loud enough to cover a cry of panic that had the mercenary whip around to shoot someone else. Jeremy stood up to help but it seemed like there had just been two people. 

Ryan looked at him and said, “I think that’s our cue to leave.”

They turned off the computer and made sure there were no traces that they had been there, except for the two bodies of the guards.

On their way down the stairs the encountered another guard coming up to meet them. This time it was Jeremy who shot him down. Opting for speed instead of stealth the two had to dispose of five more guards before they made it out of the building. 

They managed it and soon were in range to call Jack. 

“Come in Overlord.”

“Vagabond? You guys done already?”

“Ran into some trouble, had to leave. Are we ready for extraction?”

“Will be in a few minutes. Start coming to me.”

Gavin’s voice chimed in. “You two didn’t raise any alarms. Eagle One was watching on the cameras and he said you got everyone who saw you. We’re wiping the footage now.”

Jeremy and Ryan got to the fence where Jack was waiting for them. They climbed up and over and made their way to the getaway vehicle. Gavin and Geoff were going to stay parked there and pull as much information as they could. They would all meet at a large suburban safehouse later to debrief. 

Jack, Ryan, and Jeremy went straight there to wait for people. Jack started putting pizzas in the oven and Ryan and Jeremy took turns showering. It was such a relief to wash away the sweat and little bit of dried blood. The mission had him tense and he was finally able to relax now that it was done. When he was finished he wandered into the living room. Ryan was seated on the loveseat, which struck Jeremy as odd. Normally he tried to keep people at a distance and would sit in single seat chairs. Jeremy pictured himself flopping down next to his teammate and enjoying having some physical contact between them, but he decided to respect the other’s space (and prevent his crush from being to obvious) so he went to sit in the armchair beside him. He sat in it sideways, knees draped over one arm and head tilting back over the other. Ryan laughed at him.

“Today went pretty well, don’t you think?” The other man asked.

“Meh, did it though? We got caught and killed a bunch of people and we didn’t find any hard copies of the stuff. Now that they know someone broke in they may sweep for bugs and then all our hard work will be for nothing. We have to hope Gavin will get something before then.” 

Ryan scratched his beard. “Oh. Yeah, that’s true. I guess I meant us working together.”  He smiled at Jeremy. “We make a pretty good duo, don’t you think? After all this is over you and I could be partners.”

Jeremy  _ did _ think, but he was too busy thinking about the other type of  _ partner _ he would like to be with Ryan. “Yeah man, we’re a great team. Need any problem solved? Call the Battle Buddies!”

“Battle Buddies?”

Jeremy reached out and tapped Ryan’s elbow with his foot. “Yep, Battle Buddies, our new team name. Buddies who Battle. Only other people of course, if we ever fought you’d eat me alive.”

Ryan laughed, but it rang a little insincere in Jeremy’s ears. The shorter man sat up and looked at him. Ryan was facing away from him, staring at the corner of the room. He was biting hard at his bottom lip, something Jeremy was used to seeing during their drives, right before they would start talking about whatever was bothering them. 

“Hey man, you good?”

Ryan looked at him but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Yeah Lil J, everything is fine.”

Insecurity crept into Jeremy’s heart. It wasn’t like Ryan to brush him off like that. Usually they were really open with each other. Jeremy didn’t know what caused his friend to be closed off now, but he didn’t like it. “Ryan?”

Ryan looked down and started fidgeting with the mask that was lying beside him on the couch. “Ok. it’s a small thing. I’m still working it out. Kinda? I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

“That’s fine Ryan. You know I’m here to listen when you are.”

Ryan looked up at him again, and this time his smile did reach his eyes, even if he still looked a little wary. “I know you will be. Thank you.”

Jack walked in with the pizza. “The other two just checked in. They said things were going slower than they wanted it too. They think they’ll be there all night. I also heard from Michael, his heist with the B Team is over. They are just counting up the money. He said he’ll come join us in the morning and then we only have to go over everything once.”

“Everyone alright on that end? No injuries?” Jack shook her head. Jeremy grabbed a slice of pizza. The three of them decided to play a few rounds of Trials before heading to bed. 

Jeremy had trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned for hours, not able to quiet his mind. Eventually he decided to get up and eat some cold pizza. He stumbled into the kitchen only to see a hulking black shape moving around, causing him to jump and let out an embarrassing Eep noise. The shape turned around to reveal Ryan. 

“Give people a heart attack will you? There are light switches in the kitchen.”

Ryan looked sheepish. "I was trying not to wake anybody up. Sorry.”

“Nah, I had trouble sleeping too. Any pizza left?”

Ryan pulled out a plate and handed it to Jeremy who hopped up on the counter. They both ate in silence for a minute. 

“How serious were you?” Asked Ryan suddenly.

“Huh, what?” Jeremy said, closer to sleep than he thought. 

“Battle Buddies. If this job with Geoff goes well and we go our separate ways. Would you want to try working together?”

Jeremy hadn’t actually thought about it very seriously. Truth be told, he didn’t want  _ any _ of them to go their separate ways, he had too much fun with everyone in the crew. But if they did working with Ryan would be wonderful. They did get along really well, both on the job and in their personal lives. Getting to stay with him would be fantastic. He’d have to get over his crush first though. 

“Yeah. I’d like that. Didn’t think the Mad Mercenary would want to work with a low life like me though. We’d need a better name though. It was my idea but Battle Buddies isn’t very intimidating.”

“You sell yourself short Jeremy.” Ryan said, putting a hand on his shoulder. It was very warm and Jeremy fought not to blush when he stared up into Ryan’s eyes. 

“Don’t make this into a short joke, pal.”

Ryan laughed his adorable chortle. “You know what I mean. You’re good. I really like working with you. Although I agree about the team name. You aren’t great at coming up with them, are you  _ Rimmy Tim _ .”

“Excuse you, for one, I am not Rimmy Tim, that is a completely different person than me and for another shut the fuck up.”

Ryan laughed again and the teasing lasted until they finished eating and decided to go back to bed. Jeremy’s chest felt lighter, glad that whatever Ryan was dealing with wasn’t enough to ruin their friendship, not that Jeremy would let that happen without a fight. With that in mind he finally drifted to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything in this chapter was supposed to be filler before the next plot point. I don't know how it got so long. 
> 
> Also, please don't notice my technology inconsistencies. If I don't say anything maybe no one will realize there is a problem with how the Battle Buddies can't use long range comms because they are in a dead zone but Gavin's bugs can transmit data just fine.... It is just how technology works ok? Don't question it.


	5. Chapter 5

The morning brought Geoff and Gavin back to the base. They immediately crashed for a few hours after having worked all night. Around mid-morning Michael arrived with breakfast burritos and coffee for everyone. They all trooped into the living room to hear what Geoff and Gavin had found. 

Geoff clapped his hands in front of him and asked for Ryan and Jeremy to say how their side of the mission went to start them off. The two of them relived the events, explaining what had happened when they went dark. When they finished Geoff swore.

“Fuck. Ok, killing that many people definitely wasn’t part of the plan, but you guys had no choice, I get that. We’re just going to have to be extra careful from this point on. We cannot tip off Edgars that we were after him at the facility. Gavin and I had shit luck on our end too. Whatever tech they have making it a dead zone was affecting the bugs too. Project X was a good call, but we don’t know much about it. All we could dig up so far were a few numbers and transaction history. We got a lot of info downloaded, and some of it is still coming through. Hopefully they won’t find the bugs. 

“Mouldy Dick is going to be put on hold for a few weeks though. We won’t do much more than monitor Humane Labs and maybe set up surveillance on Redman. I was thinking that if attention gets put on the break in then we can try selling off the other info, that will hopefully throw attention away from our primary objective. For now though take some time off. Lay low for a bit. I’ll call you guys when I have more for you.”

They didn’t leave right away. The crew stayed in the safehouse and played Minecraft all day, trying to take their minds off the uncertainty facing them. 

News leaked about the break in. Trevor was able to find a buyer for the info. A rival pharmaceutical company was interested in learning about what new drugs were being developed. The bugs on the servers and the security panel were found, but the other ones were all still transmitting data. 

They didn’t really get a full vacation. Jeremy knew Gavin was toiling away trying to sift through all of the data they were getting from Humane Labs. Geoff and Jack were helping. Himself, Michael and Ryan were busy helping with heists and arms deals. The whole crew took turns keeping tabs on Redman. Jeremy broke into his home one day. Ryan put a tracker on his car.

For over a month they had no leads. Then one day Geoff called them all together. Jeremy hadn’t been in the same room with everyone at once in a few weeks, it was nice to be back. That isn’t to say he hadn’t seen everyone. They all still found time to hang out. Especially him and Ryan, who had gotten into the habit of going over to each other’s places, ordering take out, and gaming. Things with Ryan were more comfortable than ever. He was almost getting to the point where he wanted to ask the other man to dinner, but something held him back. Whenever there was a nice moment between them he was plagued by insecurity and doubt. Part of that could have been that one thing neither of them talked about were past relationships. He still couldn’t be sure the other man would be interested, and he was too afraid of the alternative to find out. 

Geoff brought his attention back to the present by slamming his hands down on the table and exclaiming. “Ladies and Gentleman, we’ve got ourselves a name!” He opened a file on the desk in front of him and pulled out papers which he passed around to everyone. It was an email communication for certain drugs to be delivered to a psychiatrist in town. Geoff went on to explain how Gavin had cross-referenced this information with the info they got from trailing Redman. 

“His name is Ulrich Norman Owen. He runs a clinic in Vinewood. They mostly do relationship counselling, but it has some buzz in the online soulmate community. This could be our link to Edgars. He needs to get his test subjects from somewhere. Having a psychiatrist screen for them would be one way of doing that. We’re going to need someone to get into that clinic and meet with him and then we can -”

“I’ll do it.” Interrupted Jeremy. All eyes turned to him. “Aside from you two,” he gestured to Geoff and Jack, “I’m the one with the most knowledge on soulmates. Plus I have a history going to therapy. It would make the most sense for me to go.”

Jack nodded at him. “I’m glad you’re on board. We would have suggested that if you hadn’t offered.”

“Ok perfect!” Geoff continued. “Jeremy, you’re going to get an appointment from him. Talk to him about your confusing feelings about someone special in your life and hope that is enough to get him to pass on information about Edgars. Hopefully he’ll get in contact with you and you can meet him in person.”

They devolved into thinking up Jeremy’s back story. They decided to go with as much of the truth as possible, to prevent Jeremy from accidently contradicting himself  and to make sure any background checks held up. The only major change was going to be that Jeremy’s mother was going to be unaware of the ideas of soulmates and kicked out her son because of his mental illness. Jeremy will pretend to have only heard about soulmates recently. 

Jeremy could tell that there was one person who wasn’t thrilled about this plan. Ryan was practically radiating moodiness during this whole discussion. Jeremy liked to think he had gotten pretty good at reading the other man’s mood. When the crew broke up their planning session for lunch Jeremy confronted him about it. 

“So Ryan, what do you think of the plan?” Jeremy planted himself so that Ryan would have to push around him to get out of the planning room.

Ryan just shrugged in his seat. “It seems dangerous. I- I don’t like the thought of you going in alone.”

Jeremy smiled and pat Ryan’s shoulder reassuringly. “I can handle it. Just a few sessions with a different shrink. I’ll be in touch the whole way you won’t have to worry.”

Ryan bit his lip and thought this over for a second. “Still… I don’t like the thought of Edgars getting his hands on you.”

“ _ Ryan _ I can do this. I promise I’ll be careful.”

“Can you promise me-” He choked off and ground his teeth together. “Can you promise me that if things go wrong you’ll pretend your soulmate is me?”

Jeremy’s heart froze and then took off racing in his chest. “You?”

Ryan nodded, not looking at him. “That way if something happens he’ll come after me too and then I can help.”

“Sure thing, pal.” It shouldn’t be too hard to pretend to be in love with Ryan, considering he wouldn’t be pretending at all. “If that will make you feel better, then I promise.”

Ryan awkwardly mumbled thanks and started to squish past Jeremy. The two of them joined the others for lunch but neither of them spoke about the addition to the plan. 

The big day finally arrived. Jeremy had gotten a referral from his normal therapist to see Dr. Owen and made an appointment. He had his cover story memorized and was on his way to the upscale medical centre that housed the clinic. He was nervous but he didn’t let it get to him. Soon he was walking past the sign marking Dr. U.N. Owen’s medical practice. 

He played a mobile game on his phone in the waiting room and soon it was his turn to go in. In the office a plain looking man shook hands with him. Dr. Owen’s pale hair was obviously going grey and receding from his forehead. He was taller than Jeremy and in surprisingly good shape for someone his age. His features were somewhat forgettable, brown eyes hiding behind thick glasses, average nose, somewhat thin lips, yet Jeremy had the feeling he had seen the man before but couldn’t place it. 

They got the introductions out of the way and some icebreaker questions before the doctor asked. “And what brings you here today Jeremy?” so he launched into his prepared speech about his extreme mood swings, how his mother thought he was mentally ill and kicked him out, how he tried various therapists and medications with no improvement until he stumbled onto a myth about soulmates and further research lead him to Dr. Owen. 

“So you think these emotional shifts could be caused by a soulmate?”

“I donno. I guess I’m hoping you could tell me that. I just don’t know what it is. I’m kinda grasping at straws here.” The crew had decided that the sceptical approach would be best.

“Hmmm well we’ll do our best to come to the bottom of it. And do you have a person in mind? Someone you feel connected to?”

Something inside him called out against him talking about Ryan to this man, even though he had promised. “Well… There is someone I like. I do feel like we have a connection but I have no idea how he feels about me.”

“And when did you meet this person?”

“A few months ago”

“But you’ve said you’ve felt this way since childhood? Is there any way you could have met as children? A long lost kindergarten friend who moved away perhaps?”

“No, we grew up really far apart and our families didn’t really take us on holidays.”

Do you have any childhood friends that you keep in touch with?”

“No, when I was kicked out I ran away from Boston and didn’t keep in touch with a single person.”

“I see.” Dr. Owen typed something onto the tablet he was using to take notes. “Well Jeremy I’m afraid I have bad news and worse news for you.”

“Okay…” Jeremy didn’t know where this is going.

“I’m sorry to say that you don’t have a soulmate. Not yet at any rate. You see, people don’t have predestined other halves they need to meet like a movie would show you. No, no. A soulmate bond forms from a strong relationship. Even if you had met someone to form the bond as a child, you would need to still be emotionally connected with them to be, well, emotionally connected with them. It is something that develops between truly compatible people, trust me, I’ve done extensive research on the subject. That isn’t to say you won’t find someone and develop that bond, but right now I’m afraid your mother was right and it is a mental illness.”

“Oh. Yeah that is disappointing.” Jeremy was trying to think of a way to salvage this, he needed to get connected to Edgars somehow and a second attempt similar to this would raise red flags. 

“But don’t worry Jeremy. I’ll help you work through it. Delusions, anxiety, depression. Thoughts of suicide. We’ll fix you up in no time.”

“What? I don’t have thoughts of suicide!” Jeremy was starting to get panicked now. There was something amused in the other’s voice that was making him uncomfortable. 

“Of course you do. I’m going to have to put you on suicide watch. You’ll be very comfortable during your stay here.”

“I don’t need to stay here! Thank you, but I’m gonna go.” He stood and rushed to the door of the office. Opening it revealed three strong men in uniform guiding a medical stretcher. Jeremy shouted in surprise and retreated a few steps. The men advanced and grabbed hold of him. He struggled but he was outnumbered and they were all much larger than him and clearly trained fighters. 

He didn’t know how it happened but he found himself strapped to the stretcher, arms and legs in leather restraints. Dr. Owen tutted and walked towards him. “Jeremy, Jeremy. You didn’t even ask what the worse news was.” He leaned in close, pulled up Jeremy’s shirt sleeve and jabbed his arm with a needle. He got right in Jeremy’s face and smiled. “The worse news is that  _ I know you’re lying to me _ . Take him away, men.” 

“Yes sir, Captain Edgars!” And Jeremy’s world went black. 

* * *

Ryan gasped and fell out of his chair.

“Ryan? Are you ok?” Jack rushed over concerned.

“It’s Jeremy! Something’s wrong, we have to help him!” Panic swirled through him like a hurricane. He clutched at the helping hands and tried to scramble upright.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down. What happened? Tell me what’s going on Ryan.” He was guided back to his seat and steady hands held him in place. 

“Jeremy! Jeremy’s in trouble! We have to go!” 

“How can you tell?”

“I can feel it! He’s scared!” He was screaming now, tears in his eyes, but he had to make them understand they needed to go  _ now _ . 

“Deep breaths, buddy. Come on. We can’t go with you like this, you have to calm down. Breathe with me just like this.”

Ryan stuttered through some deep breaths. Just when the room was coming into focus again his world snapped. His panic was gone. Nothing was in its place. A void. An emptiness. Ryan looked up and saw the crew all staring at him, concerned. “He’s gone.” Ryan’s voice was small.

“Ryan buddy. We don’t know what’s happening. Can you tell us what’s going on?”

He took a few more breaths to steady himself. “I felt him. I felt his fear. He was scared, and now… just nothing. I don’t feel anything. He’s gone.” Ryan felt sobs rising in his chest. 

“Is he… Ryan, is Jeremy your soulmate?” asked Jack. 

“I… I think so? I’ve been feeling closer to him for a while now and when you told us about your bond I started thinking it could be true for us. But now he’s gone…”

“Shit. Okay, we need to get eyes on that facility. Gavin?”

“On it!”

“Michael, drive out there. See if you can’t find someone leaving. Grab a comm and keep in touch with Gavin.”

Michael followed Gavin out and it was just the older three left. Ryan felt the tears streaming down his face. He felt the two crew leaders lead him somewhere where he could lie down and he felt hands running through his hair but he didn’t feel Jeremy. He had gotten so used to that little bubble of  _ other _ at the back of his head. He found strength there when he was feeling down. Jeremy was so often cheerful and upbeat and it was nice to be able to focus on that. 

He knew he was selfish about it. He knew that his own black moods bled their way through to Jeremy. So many times he had wanted to talk about how he felt towards the other man. But what could he say? How could he admit that he was the reason Jeremy would get panic attacks? That he was the one to ruin his life. To drive him away from his own mother, his home, his friends. Jeremy  _ hated _ soulmates. How would he feel about getting stuck with a burden like Ryan? His mother was right. He was a burden and a waste and so broken that no one would ever love him. He didn’t deserve it. And now it was too late. Jeremy was  _ gone _ . 

The next few hours were like a daze. At some point someone brought him food. He ate mechanically. And then the bubble in the back of his mind gurgled sluggishly. He dropped the spoon. 

The more he focused on it, he more could feel the emotions. Confusion, pain, fear. But it was  _ there _ again!

“He’s not dead!” He beamed at Jack, who was sitting in a chair beside him. A calm settled on him.

“You can feel him?”

“Yeah. He’s scared. Confused. But I can  _ feel _ him again Jack!”

“Thank god! Finish eating and join us in the boardroom when you’re ready. We have a lot to talk about.”

He ate quickly, still not even aware of what kind of food he was shoveling down. He decided he needed a shower and a change of clothes. When he walked into the boardroom Jack and Geoff were there waiting for him.

“How are you feeling buddy?” Geoff asked, concerned.

“Better now. Worn out.”

Geoff nodded in sympathy. “Not surprising. Okay then. I guess we better sum up what the fuck just happened.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know what, but something must have happened to Jeremy during that session. Whatever it was scared him real bad. My guess is that Edgars tipped off Dr. Owen and told him to be on the lookout for someone new. Ryan, we’re lucky you have a connection with him. Without that we wouldn’t have known to start looking when we did and by the time we would have realized it would have been to late. Gavin was able to get into the traffic cameras and see an ambulance driving away. We were able to see it head out of the city, but once it did we didn’t have eyes on it and Michael couldn’t get there in time to see where it went. However! It did head in the direction of the Zancudo, so I’m guessing Jeremy was taken there. Ryan, to me it seems like Jeremy was knocked out, not killed. That would explain why your connection was suddenly cut off and why it is back now. You still feel him?”

“Yeah. It’s fuzzy, but it’s there.”

Geoff and Jack exchanged a look. “Drugged then. I wish I didn’t know what that felt like. But we do and it sounds like what you just felt.”

There was a beat of silence where Geoff pinched the bridge of his nose. Then Jack spoke up. “I know this seems bad… but we do have an advantage Edgars doesn’t know about.” Her voice was slow and cautious. “When we were captured… the fear of it… having the other person in danger… It helped strengthen our connection beyond what even Edgars believes possible. Instead of just emotion, Geoff and I can hear each other’s thoughts. Not all of them, not all the time. We have to consciously think at the other person, like talking. We’ve looked it up and there doesn’t seem to be another documented case of this happening. You probably won’t get to that point yourself. Geoff and I had been together for almost twenty years before it happened, but having half a soul connection will help us find and rescue Jeremy. And you can send him positive emotions to help him through this.”

Ryan didn’t have the energy in him to be sceptical. He just needed to believe this was true. He closed his eyes and mentally chanted  _ Please be ok. We’ll come for you.  _ I _ ’ll come for you...I love you. _

At that moment Michael and Gavin walked in. Gavin ran up and gave him a hug and Michael pat his shoulder. “Hey big guy. How ya doin’?” 

“Eh, not great.” 

“We’re going to burn Edgars to the ground. We’ll get him back.”

Geoff took the lead at this point. “We will! We’ve been preparing for this and we have everything we need. So! Now we start planning.”

* * *

Jeremy blinked his eyes open. He was in… A hospital? That didn’t make sense. Was he injured somewhere? His head felt funny. He tried moving his arms but he couldn’t. Looking down he saw the leather restraints and the pieces fell into place. 

Dr. Owen must have been expecting something like this. The whole thing must have been a trap. Jeremy didn’t know if he had been moved or if he was still in the Vinewood clinic. He didn’t know if he crew would know he was in trouble. If he had been missing for a while they might get suspicious, but how long had he been gone? Jeremy wished he hadn’t gone off by himself, but at the time it made sense. They didn’t want to compromise his cover story.

He lay there testing his restraints. They didn’t give him much wiggle room, but with enough time he could probably worm his way out. There was a constant sense of dread in his gut. He had no idea what would come next, if he would get to meet Edgars or not. 

Suddenly he realized.  _ The crew is going to come for him _ . It was such a strong wave of reassurance, but he didn’t doubt it. He trusted Geoff, and Jack. Gavin was a pro at breaking into any places security and Michael could easily take out any guards. And Ryan… Ryan would be furious if he knew someone had taken Jeremy. He just had to hold on, and maybe give some fake information that give the crew a chance to track his captors. 

He didn’t know how long he was there before a door opened and Dr. Owen walked in. This time he was wearing a lab coat over a military uniform. “Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had other responsibilities to look after. You’re not the most important thing on my list, you understand.”

He pulled up a chair beside Jeremy’s stretcher and leaned back. Jeremy just glared at him. “Let me explain myself, since you are probably as stupid as you look. I am not the good doctor U.N. Owen,” He pronounced it like ‘unknown’ “I got the name from a classic detective story. I guess it shows my dramatic side. If you hadn’t figured it out already, I am Captain John Edgars. I run that clinic looking to find potential candidates. It’s similar to how I found your employers. How are Geoffrey and Jackie by the way? I knew someone had been snooping around for records of me and the break ins had that pair written all over it. I do miss them.” He sighed. “The ones that got away. They showed such promise. I haven’t been able to meet their like since. Maybe I’ll get a hold of them again though. I suppose that depends on how much they value you.”

Jeremy didn’t let the jibe get to him. He knew he was a valuable crew member, and on top of that, everyone in the crew cared about each other. They would come for him.

“While you’re here I might as well make you useful. It is too bad you don’t have a soulmate for me to scoop up, but you can help me test a theory. I’m going to see if I can force a soul bond. I do work for the military after all. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could infiltrate a terrorist cell and induce the soul connection? It would make fighting wars a lot easier, don’t you think? Just think about all the good your service will do for your country! Now, these nice gentlemen will show you to your quarters. I hope you have a pleasant stay here!”

Jeremy was wheeled down a hallway and into a room. His restraints were undone and he was moved to a bed. Before he could even get up the soldiers had left him and locked the door. The room was small. There were two cots on each wall and one toilet separating them. A single bulb mounted above the door gave him light. The walls were painted cinder blocks and the door was thick plate steel. There was a small window about eye height on the door and a flap at the bottom where Jeremy imagined they could shove food through. It had no handle on his side. 

There was nothing for him to do but sit and think, glad at least to be out of the restraints. He didn’t know how he would be able to get out of this mess. Some time later a buzzer when off and his light disappeared. He figured it was night. He lay in the bed and imagined he wasn’t here alone. He pictured what it would be like to have strong arms wrap around him and a deep voice whisper in his ear.  _ The crew will come for you. We’ll come for you. We’ll get you back. _

 

_ I love you _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally learn the rules of how this soulmate AU works! Well most of them at least! Hopefully this clears up a lot of questions!


	6. Chapter 6

Jeremy didn’t think he had fallen asleep, but when the door opened he jerked awake all the same. In the light from the hallway he saw the silhouette of two men dragging another between them, a cloth bag over the person’s head concealed their identity. They tossed the body on the floor and closed the door, plunging the room in darkness once more. 

In the stunned silence that followed Jeremy heard the sounds of sobbing coming from the newcomer. Cautiously Jeremy crept forwards onto the floor beside his new roommate. He felt around to find the bag and pulled it off the person’s head, not that it would help too much in the darkness. The stranger tensed up at the feeling of Jeremy’s hands and he tried to whisper soothing words to calm them down. “Hey buddy, it’s alright, pal. Just take deep breaths for me, yeah?” He wished he could say  _ you’re alright now, you’re safe _ but that was something Jeremy couldn’t promise.

Once the newcomer had stopped crying Jeremy asked for their name. “Fe-Felix” was the stuttered answer. Jeremy moved Felix so he was sitting on the bed and asked him what had happened. 

“I was… I was just coming home from the bar. I was walking home when all of a sudden I was grabbed. They put something on my head and pulled me into a van. I don’t know what happened but now I’m here. Where am I? Who are you?”

“My name is Jeremy. I ah- I don’t really know where we are either. I went to see a doctor about mood swings I’ve been having but the next thing I know he is tying me to a stretcher and drugging me. I woke up here.” Jeremy wasn’t sure who this person was or if he could trust him with the full story, especially any info about the crew. Even if it was safe to tell this guy, how could he know the room wasn’t monitored?

“But why! What do they want with us!”

“Okay… This might sound crazy but… How much do you know about soulmates?”

The two of them sat side by side on the bed in the dark as Jeremy explained the soulmate myth. How he had thought he might have one so went to see a therapist specializing in that sort of thing. How he was told he didn’t have one but a crazy military doctor decided he was going to be an experiment to see if the connection would be forced. He didn’t say anything about the crew or what he had learned from all of the reconnaissance they had done. He planned to play dumb on that for as long as he could. 

Eventually the buzzer sounded and the lone bulb blinked on. Jeremy finally got a look at Felix’s face. He was a thin yet wiry man with tan skin and closely cropped honey brown hair. He had dark brown eyes and full lips. Jeremy would guess the man would be taller than him when they were standing, but most people were. All together he was quite attractive. Jeremy wondered if this was the person Edgars would try to force a connection with. 

Food was shoved through the small flap at the bottom of the door. It was a surreal moment for Jeremy, too much like a movie. Neither he nor Felix were very hungry, Felix dealing with a hangover as well. The food was unappetizing on top of that, a greyish mush of scrambled eggs and burnt toast. Jeremy prayed he wouldn’t get to the point where he was so hungry he would look forward to this type of meal. 

It was impossible to tell time in the room, but not long after the food arrived a group of soldiers came to collect them. They weren’t restrained but the obvious weapons were enough to stop Jeremy from acting out, for now at least. They were marched down a corridor and into an area that looked like a hospital or doctors office, Jeremy recognized the space from yesterday. He and Felix were separated and lead into different examination rooms. 

In the room Jeremy was told to lie down on the stretcher and the leather straps were reattached. One of the soldiers waited menacingly by the door until Edgars appeared. He was back in his lab coat. 

“Well, how do you like Felix? We didn’t have much to go off, but I did catch the male pronoun during our first session. If you think my project will work better with someone different just let us know your type and I’m sure we can find someone.” Jeremy just glared. Like  _ hell _ was he going to request them to kidnap someone else. “Not very talkative now eh? Well we don’t need you to be to get the data we need. Today is just going to be baselines. Then the real work can begin. 

Baselines turned out to be more scans than Jeremy could name. There were MRIs, CAT scans, CT scans. Various electrodes were attached to his brain and he was shown flash cards or sounds. Jeremy was briefly glad he had shaved his head, he didn’t have to worry about them doing it to put the electrode goop on his head. 

He was dismissed with the reassurance that he was a “good specimen” and returned to his cell. Felix was already there, curled in a ball on one of the beds. Jeremy felt guilty seeing him, it was his fault this poor guy had been kidnapped and forced into this whole situation. 

“How did today go?” he found himself asking. He took a seat on the bed beside Felix and pat his ankle. 

“I just want to go home!” sniffled the other man.

“Where’s home for you? Do you have anyone waiting for you?” Jeremy wanted to hopefully cheer him up.

Felix told him he was alone in the city. Much like Jeremy he had left his parent’s house and never looked back. Unlike Jeremy he hadn’t found a group of friends in the city he could rely on to look for him. Felix worried that no one would even notice he was gone. He hoped at least a neighbour would notice and feed his dog. 

A tray with what was probably meatloaf and potatoes was pushed through the door while they were talking. Both of them were hungry by this point so they did eat, but neither thought it was pleasant.

To pass the time they started to tell stories. True stories, make believe, internet myths, anything they could think of. Conversation flowed easily. They were almost able to forget about where they were, for a little while. The buzzer sounded and the light flickered off. Jeremy moved to go to the empty bed but Felix caught his sleeve. 

“Jeremy! I… I’m sorry. I was just scared…”

“It’s ok. Do you want me to stay?”

“If you don’t mind” Felix mumbled in a shy voice. 

“Course not.” Answered Jeremy.

The two of them lay together in the dark on the small bed.

Jeremy didn’t wake until the buzzer sounded. Felix had moved in his sleep to be curled against his side. They had the same breakfast of horrible eggs and hard toast.

The tests today were so much  _ worse _ than yesterday. They took blood samples and injected him with mystery drugs. Felix was with him today and seeing the innocent man whimpering at the rough treatment broke Jeremy’s heart. Jeremy did his best to block it all out. He went to his ‘happy place’ which turned into thinking about the crew. The days at the pool, nights playing video games, car rides with Ryan. Jeremy pictured what Ryan would do, what he would say, if he could see Jeremy now. There was reassurance there, strength he could draw from. 

His days became filled with tests at the medical centre. His nights were spent telling stories with Felix, curled up together on the small bed. He’d lost count of how many light-dark cycles he had been through. 

One night he woke up with one thought on his mind: Run. It was like words whispered over and over.  _ Get out get out get out Run. _

Unsure what it meant, he shook Felix awake. 

“Wha?” yawned the other man.

“We have to leave.”

“What?”

“Just trust me, we have to leave.”

“How?”

Okay, this one stumped Jeremy. There was no way they were getting out of the cell by themselves.

“We could ‘Get Help’”

“What kind of help?”

Jeremy grinned in the dark. “Do you like superhero movies?”

A few minutes later Jeremy started pounding on the door. “Help!” He cried. “Someone help! He’s having some kind of fit, please someone help!” He screamed and banged on the door until the slit at eye level opened. 

“What the fuck is going on here?” said the guard.

“He’s having a seizure or something! He fell out of bed and won’t stop twitching!”

The slit slid shut and Jeremy heard the door unlocking. He stood beside it and when it opened he grappled with the guard until he was unconscious. Jeremy counted his lucky stars that the man was alone. He wedged one of the shoes in the door so it wouldn’t close.

Felix sat up and looked at the scene in awe. “That should  _ not _ have worked!”

“But it did! Quickly, we need to get you into his clothes.”

“Why me?!” 

“Because he’s way too tall for them to fit me!”

In a few minutes Jeremy and Felix stuck their heads out the door. No one was in sight. They moved down the hallway, taking the opposite turn from the medical wing. Jeremy walked in front, Felix dressed as a guard behind him. 

They followed the regulation “Exit” signs. Jeremy getting more and more anxious as they continued not to run into any guards. Eventually they turned a corner and heard shouts followed by gunfire. Jeremy’s heart soared. It must be the crew! They came for him after all!

A few more twists and turns found them outside and ducking for cover. Jeremy popped his head out and evaluated the scene in front of him. They were in a large fenced off yard. There was a fight going on at the front gates. He could see explosions and a rain of bullets. Scanning the area Jeremy saw a fence that was going unwatched in the commotion. He explained his plans to Felix and they ran across the open area, fearful of being caught. Jeremy scaled the fence first and called to Felix when he was at the top. He held down the barbed wire as best he could as Felix climbed over then held the wire down for Jeremy as he did the same. They dropped to the other side.

The two looked to each other and grinned. “Why didn’t we do that sooner!” Crowed Felix. 

“Because we didn't have a distraction. Come on!” Jeremy started off in the direction he thought the grenades were coming from. 

“Are you crazy!” Felix grabbed the back of his shirt. “Why would we go  _ towards _ the fighting!”

“No, it’s okay! I know them! It’s a long story, but you have to trust me.”

Jeremy grabbed Felix’s arm and lead him towards the attackers. Before they could get close a bright light flashed in their eyes.

“Stop right there! Hands where I can see ‘em!” Called out the owner of the flashlight.

“Trevor?”

“Jeremy! Oh my god, you got out!” The taller man rushed towards him and pulled him into a hug. They held each other close for a moment, but then Trevor noticed Felix in his soldier uniform and reached for his gun. 

“No, no wait! He’s with me. He was kidnapped too!” Said Jeremy.

“If you say so. Hang on, let me call Geoff and then we can get out of here.”

He made the call and Trevor then explained to Jeremy and Felix that the crew would cover their escape. Trevor lead them to a waiting car and bundled them in. They went to the warehouse. Trevor explained that they had first aid and emergency medical supplies set up in case anyone came away injured. 

It wasn’t long before the rest of the crew arrived. Everyone ran to Jeremy to make sure he was okay, but Ryan got to him first. He was enveloped in a tight hug that quickly turned into a group hug. Jeremy was in tears he was so relieved to be back, and he wasn’t the only one. Ryan and Geoff were both openly crying and Jack was misty eyed. 

After everyone knew that Jeremy wasn’t injured and they had all been introduced to Felix, Geoff disappeared and returned with a pot of hot chocolate and a stack of mugs. Soon everyone was sitting in the rec room with a steaming mug of cocoa. Jeremy was squished between Gavin on his right and Ryan on his left. Felix had taken the armchair, clearly uncomfortable to be around a bunch of strangers. 

“So what happened? Are you alright?” Michael asked.

Jack spoke up before Jeremy could answer. “You don’t have to talk about it now, you can wait until you’re ready.”

“Nah, it wasn’t that bad, not really. And you guys came for me pretty quick.” Jeremy took a last swig of his drink and set his mug on the coffee table. 

“Edgars set a trap for us. There is no Dr. Owen, it was him. He was expecting someone to come sooner or later. When he found out I don’t actually have a soulmate he decided to see if he could force a connection.”

“What!” Exclaimed Ryan, looking upset.

“Yeah, crazy right? That’s where Felix comes in. He grabbed him off the street. This whole time I was there has been full of him poking us with needles and monitoring heartbeats and brainwaves to see if a connection could be formed.”

“Did it work?” asked Ryan.

“I don’t think so, eh buddy?” Jeremy asked Felix, who shook his head. “And no offense, but thank God. I hated the idea of soulmates before, but after hearing about how the military wants to use it to control people? No thanks! I’d much rather date someone who I don’t have a connection with. That is way less stressful.”  _ Especially since the person I want to date didn’t cause a connection, and the arm he has around me right now feels too good to give up. _

“Yeah, me too.” Answered Felix. “That doctor guy was creepy as fuck. I’m glad we got away! But…” He trailed off.

“What’s up, pal?” Asked Jeremy, leaning towards his former cellmate.

“Do you think he knows where I live? Can I even go home?”

There was silence as everyone processed this. Geoff was the one to break it. “Probably not. It’s ok, we have a safe house you can stay in. Jeremy, you will probably need to stay there too, I don’t know how secure your apartment is anymore.”

“Thank you! That is really generous of you to offer. Honestly, I don’t know what would have happened if you guys hadn’t come for Jeremy.”

“We would always come for one of our own. It is a good thing you guys heard the commotion and were able to get out of there yourselves, I’ll admit our plan for breaking in there was not as well thought out as we hoped.” said Geoff

Suddenly Felix yawned. “Sorry. It’s just been a really long week.”

“That’s true for all of us.” Said Jack. “I think we should call it a night everyone.”

“Hey, before you do, where is your bathroom?” Asked Felix. He was directed to a doorway down the hall. People started getting up to head home. Ryan offered to drive Jeremy and Felix to the safe house. 

When they were pulling into the drive Ryan asked ”Do you want me to come in with you?”

Jeremy was opening is mouth to say  _ of course _ when he felt a hand on his wrist. He looked beside him to see Felix wide-eyed shaking his head. Jeremy realized that the poor guy probably wasn’t feeling too comfortable about being around strangers, especially considering Jeremy had neglected to tell him about the crew. The whole criminal thing probably freaked him out.

“Uh… Thanks Rye, but we’ll be alright. I’ll call you if we have any trouble. Thanks for driving us.”

Ryan parked and Jeremy got out. As he was passing the driver’s window Ryan called out to him. Jeremy paused and leaned in. 

“Are you sure I can’t stay?” Asked Ryan in a low voice.

Jeremy’s heart fluttered. But that wasn’t what Felix needed right now so he shook his head.

_ But what about what I need _ ? Thought Jeremy as he watched hurt flicker across Ryan’s face. 

They got inside and Ryan drove away. Jeremy’s heart felt heavy as he watched him go.

* * *

Ryan couldn’t stand it. Jeremy had been home a week, and had only been gone for two, but things had changed so much between them in that time. Ryan understood. Jeremy was trying to help Felix. He could see how upset the other man was. He had no idea what happened to the two men, and they were relying on each other to heal. But Ryan couldn’t help but be jealous. He wanted to be the one Jeremy turned to when he needed help. It was especially bad because… 

Because his connection to Jeremy had started to feel faint. It was no longer a bright bubble at the back of his head. Now it was so dull, still there, but Ryan dreaded the day when he would stop feeling it all together. It really scared him. He was in a really dark place, kept thinking how worthless he was, how stupid for even thinking he had a chance with such a vibrant, perfect man. In the past few months he had gotten used to Jeremy texting him to go on a drive when it got really bad, that is how he eventually put it together that he had a connection with Jeremy, but the text never came and he was too scared to ask anymore. 

There was a party at the safe house tonight. They were monitoring both Jeremy and Felix’s apartments, and there hadn’t been any sign of military surveillance, but they still didn’t want to risk the two of them heading back. Instead Geoff asked a favour from a contact of his to house Felix and set him up, kinda like some sort of criminal witness protection program. It wasn’t that Geoff didn’t trust the guy, even though he was a stranger, it was more that he didn’t want to get a civilian involved more than he had to. Even though Felix had mentioned he was interested in helping out, the crew didn’t need a rookie risking the missions. Tonight was a going away party of sorts, and Ryan felt extremely guilty about how happy he would be to see him go. 

The party was in full swing. B team were invited too so the house was pretty full of rowdy people. Ryan was one of a few sober people. He was entertained by the fact that instead of designated drivers, Jack insisted a couple people stayed alert enough to deal with any problems that might come up. 

Ryan was deep in conversation with Trevor when out of the corner of his eye he caught Jeremy slipping away from the party and up the stairs. He gave it a couple minutes and then followed, really needing to see Jeremy again, away from other people. He couldn’t bring up how he felt, no way, but it was so long since he had any one on one time with the lad.

He saw a light coming from one of the rooms, the door ajar. He didn’t think before pushing it open but when he did his heart shattered. Jeremy was there, but so was Felix. Jeremy’s hands were on his chest and they were kissing. 

Ryan quickly shut the door again and left the party.

* * *

Jeremy pushed Felix away, still in shock about what had just happened. The motion of the door had caught his eye and he had a glimpse of Ryan’s horrified face before it closed. Now Jeremy’s heart ached in bitter disappointment, regret, and despair. It was like a knife twisting between his ribs, making him want to be physically ill.

He wanted to run after him, call out to him, but there was Felix. Felix who had just confessed he didn’t want to leave Jeremy, that he had fallen for him. Felix who had just kissed him. Jeremy couldn’t just run away after that.

“Hey” he said moving his hands to Felix’s shoulders, “I care about you, man. And I’m sorry, but… I just don’t feel comfortable doing this after everything Edgars did to us.”

“That isn’t why I’m doing this. Please Jeremy! You’ve been so good to me. I’ve never had someone I love so much. You’re so cheerful and kind and I can’t not be with you. This isn’t just because of him.”

Felix was clutching at him and Jeremy felt horrible. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. You’re so brave and so strong, but I can’t. We can’t. I’m sorry!”

Tears started to well up in Felix’s eyes. They ended up sitting on the bed as Jeremy tried comforting his friend. Felix was practically begging him between sobs and Jeremy felt like a huge pile of shit about it. Eventually he calmed down enough and Jeremy felt safe leaving him there. He went to find Jack to explain what happened, hoping she could help. Before she could go upstairs he asked her where Ryan was. She gave him a pitying look and told him he had already left.

Jeremy went outside and sat on the steps to the back door to think about what just happened. He felt horrible, revolted with himself. He felt the black mood coming on and he almost welcomed it, if only because for the past week he had felt nothing but numb. He let the pain wash over him, not trying to push it away, why should he anymore?

_ Worthless _

_ Idiot _

He didn’t try to drown out the voice this time. The voice that always reminded him too much of Ryan.

_ Why did you think you could have him? You’re a fool. A broken fool. No one will ever want you. There will always be someone better than you, someone who will love him better. _

_ You should leave. Geoff will be disappointed. Jack too, but they would understand. They would have to understand. You need to go. _

Jeremy gasped. He knew. He  _ knew _ that wasn’t coming from him. He knew he wasn’t thinking that… but that could only mean… 

That would mean that he was hearing someone else’s thoughts. Not just  _ someone _ . Ryan. 

Jeremy didn’t stop to analyze it any more. In a daze he went back inside and hysterically asked Geoff if he could borrow his car. Geoff, bless him, didn’t ask questions, didn’t stop to make sure Jeremy was good to drive, he just wordlessly handed over his keys.

Jeremy knew where he was going. He didn’t have to think about it. He made a beeline for the desert. To the cliff where he and Ryan first opened up to each other. 

He doesn’t remember the drive, he just knows it’s too long. He pulled up beside Ryan’s car and in the headlights Jeremy can see he is standing too close to the edge. The car door closing causes Ryan to turn around. 

“Jeremy? What are you doing here?”

“I can hear you. I can hear you in my head, Ryan.” Jeremy felt the panic at his words. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I never meant -”

Jeremy cut him off. “I don’t want you to be sorry.” 

By this time he was right in front of Ryan so he reached up and cupped his cheek, his other hand resting on his hip. Closing his eyes, he focused on his affection for Ryan. His love. He pictured it flowing through his hands to Ryan, of it pooling like a mist around them. 

Ryan gasped and threw his arms around him. Jeremy moved so that his arms were holding Ryan tight and his head was tucked under his chin. They stayed like that for a long time. Jeremy could feel Ryan shaking in his arms, but he also felt his affection, different from his own, swirling around them too. It was tinged with fear, and disbelief, and  _ hope _ . 

Jeremy pulled away just enough so he could kiss Ryan’s cheek, then his mouth when he turned towards him. The kiss was passionate, desperate, and long overdue. It was almost too much for Jeremy. The rush of emotions flowing through him, the feel of Ryan pushing against him, pulling him close. He never wanted it to end. But they had to pull apart for air at some point. 

They gazed into each other’s eyes for a long moment, breathless, and then Ryan whispered “I thought you didn’t want to be with a soulmate.” His voice was hoarse.

Jeremy leaned up on his tiptoes to press their foreheads together. “That’s because I wanted to be with you, and I thought we weren’t soulmates.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They kissed again, and this time they didn’t stop.

They sat, curled together on the edge of the cliff, until the sunrise painted the desert in brilliant colours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost had this end after Ryan's POV but I decided that cliffhanger was too mean. Especially because it is going to be a while before the next update. You're welcome :p


	7. Chapter 7

Jeremy was sitting in the kitchen when Felix stumbled downstairs. He came to a stop and turned bright red at the sight of him. Jeremy greeted him with a small smile. “Hey man, someone made pancakes. They’re in the oven keeping warm.”

“Uh, thanks man.” He shuffled around the counters getting himself food. Eventually he had to come and sit at the table with Jeremy. There was an awkward pause where neither could think of how to start the conversation they needed to have. 

It was Jeremy who broke the silence. “Hey… about last night. I’m sorry for how I reacted.”

Felix groaned and put his head in his hands. “No, I’m sorry. I got way too drunk. I shouldn’t have been acting like that. I should have kept it all to myself.”

“Nah, you couldn’t help it. I don’t blame you.”

“But you must think I’m such a pathetic loser!”

“I don’t! I think you were put in a stressful situation and needed someone to help you through it. It’s easy to get feelings confused with stuff like that. And stop calling yourself a loser or pathetic. I don’t think that’s true.”

“Not enough to want to give it a try though, eh?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. You’re a good looking guy.” Jeremy punched him lightly on his shoulder, making Felix blush into his breakfast. “If situations were different… I probably would have given it a shot.”

“You mean if we weren’t kidnapped and drugged?”

“Yup, that. And… Edgars was wrong, I do have a soulmate. He says I couldn’t've because the feelings started before we met. But maybe he doesn’t know as much about how that all works as he thinks he does.”

“He’d hate hearing you say that. That creep doesn’t seem like the type who likes being wrong.”

Jeremy laughed. “No, that is true. So… We good?”

“Yeah. I’m nervous about what’s coming next though. And disappointed that I can't bring my dog.”

“Don’t be worried. Burnie will take good care of you. If Gavin and Geoff are to be believed the guy is a riot and he’s got a whole network to draw from. He’ll get you set up in no time. I am sorry about the dog though. Trevor said he wasn't there when he went to look. Maybe your neighbors took him in?”

“I hope so... And, Jeremey? Thanks for... You know, everything you’ve done for me. I really do appreciate it. I hope you and your soulmate are really happy together.”

“No need to thank me, I’m just trying to be a good human being. I hope you find someone too. You deserve it.”

The morning progressed and in the afternoon Steffie from B-team arrived to drive Felix to his new home. Jeremy wondered if they would ever see each other again. 

Jeremy spent his time bouncing between the safe house and Ryan’s apartment. They still weren’t sure if he could return to his own apartment, so he got the crew to pack up his stuff and he was looking into moving somewhere else under a different name. 

The crew decided that Jeremy needed time to recover, even though he said he was fine. They disguised it as saying that since he was now compromised he needed to stay out of sight, but Jeremy knew it came from a their worry for him. Jack arranged for the psychiatrist to make house calls. He and Ryan did some couples sessions now that they knew a lot of Jeremy's mood swings were actually him channeling Ryan's emotions. It really helped them grow closer together. 

With nothing to do but lay low and twiddle their thumbs, Ryan and Jeremy had lots of time to work out the changes in their relationship. Ryan was great at helping Jeremy work through his last few reservations about having a soulmate. It was hard for him to admit he was wrong. He had to stop denying the truth and accept that he could feel Ryan’s emotions and had for as long as he could remember. In turn Jeremy reassured him that he didn’t blame him for unintentionally sending him negative feelings. Jeremy didn’t love Ryan any less for having a troubled past and promised to be there in the future to continue helping him work through it.

Jeremy couldn't even complain about the house arrest, as he wasn’t even that necessary for the next little while anyway. Gavin, Geoff, and Michael all went out of town for a couple days to steal some data from a government building, following a lead they uncovered while planning Jeremy’s rescue, leaving the rest of them with nothing to do. 

Geoff came back delighted. All three of them were excited about the results. It appeared the job had gone off without a hitch and they found what they needed, but Geoff really saw this as the beginning of the end for his plan. He and Gavin locked themselves in the computer room to work on the package he was giving to the media to expose Edgars.

The rest of them really didn't have much to do. They still sometimes worked with B-team, but they didn't anticipate any combat for the next little while. With all the time on their hands, Jack decided to help them work on their telepathic bond. She said it worked better if they removed all distractions so the three of them spent a lot of time roughing it in the woods with no access to modern comforts. The quiet did help Jeremy focus, and soon it was no effort to chat with Ryan whenever he wanted. It was distracting in their day to day lives, so they only did it when they needed to. 

One day Geoff brought them all together to review the media package. They all agreed it was watertight and convincing. Gavin sent it out, and made sure it got to a number of prominent politicians and “social media influencers”

The crew got to sit back enjoy the fallout. Newscasters and talk show hosts interviewed experts in relationships and military spokespeople to see how true it was that soulmates exist and whether the government was really spending 4.3 million dollars a year on researching them. Geoff’s tagline was published in headlines across the country and around the world:  _ You don’t have to believe us, but you should question why you’re paying for it.  _

The story got so big, and people got so angry that the president even held a press conference where he publicly condemned Captain Edgars. The official line was “misuse of government funds” because the White House decided it was better if the public thought Edgars lied about what exactly he was doing instead of the government ordering experimentation on soul mates. The doctor was dishonorably discharged, but disappeared before he could be arrested and put on trial. 

The team was in incredibly good spirits. They were only one step away from reaching their goal. They just needed to hunt Edgars down and kill him. Now that the news was out, they were able to get B-team involved so they were optimistic that they would be able to find him soon. 

The media coverage eventually died down. Their 15 minutes of fame was over. Geoff’s contact Burnie contacted them about a job. Apparently their stunt, including the raid on Humane Labs, attacking a military base, and breaking into government records, had earned them a lot of clout in the criminal world. They were being offered a job to rob an armoured truck transporting diamonds from a dockyard to the distribution centre. They agreed and started planning. 

Part of the heist would require a helicopter. Geoff and Ryan went off to make a deal with an arms dealer to get their hands on one that was not only fast and maneuverable but was also fitted out with the latest tech Gavin could use to break into any security the truck might have. 

The rest of the crew was at the warehouse playing video games and drinking. They were all being loud and rowdy. They didn’t stand a chance against the stealth operatives that surrounded them. 

It was Jack who first clued in to what was going on, grabbing her gun and jumping to her feet. There was a click and smoke started billowing through the room. Everyone scrambled for their weapons and covered their mouths as best they could. 

_ Oh god, Ryan! Someone’s here! We’re being attacked! _

**_What? Jeremy! Are you alright? Tell me what’s going on!_ **

Jeremy saw figures approaching and tried firing at them but they were wearing body armour and protective gear so it was useless. The attackers were only armed with tasers and stun guns. Jeremy watched Michael go down and started raining bullets on the attacker responsible while Gavin tended to their fallen crew member. 

It soon became clear that it was useless to fight. They were outnumbered and surprised. The assailants all had gas masks on so they weren’t struggling to breathe like the crew was. Soon they were all overwhelmed.

The attackers handcuffed them. They were lead outdoors and forced to kneel in a circle of military vehicles outside their warehouse. The vehicles’ headlights were blinding, but they heard a car door open and close and the crunch of boots on the gravel. Jeremy shivered when the familiar voice spoke.

“Well well. The infamous Fakes. The Fools more like. You’ve been a pain in my side for too long now, but it will be good to get you back. And newcomers to boot!” He stepped into the light and examined his prisoners. 

_ It’s Edgars! He’s found us! _

**_Just hold on! Geoff and I have the helicopter. We’ll be there soon!_ **

“Jackie, nice to see you again after so long. I can’t wait to show you everything I’ve learned since you left us. I’m sorry we started the party before your partner in crime got here, but I’m sure he’ll be joining us before long, won’t he.”

_ No, don’t. It’s a trap! He’s waiting for you! _

**_I’m not going to just let that mad man take you!_ **

Edgars continued along the line of prisoners. He ignored Gavin and Michael to stop in front of Jeremy. “I bet you didn’t think you’d be seeing me again so soon did you? You’re too interesting to lose. Forming a soul bond before meeting in person! Oh, I am excited to find out how that works! It changes everything. It questions our very belief system!”

_ No! It is too dangerous to come here now. If we all get taken then we’re done for. You have to stay away. Get B-team to help you plan something. I think he wants us alive. _

Edgars sneered. “I bet you’re wondering how I did this. How I finally tracked you down after so long hiding. Well, the most important strategy I ever learned was  _ know thine enemy _ . I have to thank you, I guess. You left me those delightful little bugs in the Humane Labs and I was able to use them against you. Handy little things and, if I can be honest, better than the military tech we have access to. The best part about them is that once they can hack into your phones then we can turn on the microphone and camera without anyone being the wiser! What a spectacular source of information!”

_ Oh fuck! Our phones are compromised. You and Geoff have to ditch yours, he’s using the mic and the camera. Probably tracking you too.  _

**_Shit! Okay. That probably means they’ve been in the comms too, Gavin routed them through the phones._ **

“But of course I had to have help.” He flashed them a wicked smile. “Felix has been training for years to become someone’s soulmate. Too bad it didn’t work on you Jeremy, but you still trusted him enough to tell him all kinds of things didn’t you.”

Jeremy’s mind blanked for a second before rage and betrayal surged through him.  _ That dirty snake! Felix! Fucking Felix was a goddamned plant this whole time! _

**_What?!_ **

_ I trusted him! Fuck, I believed everything he said like an idiot. He played me like a fool! _

**_I’m going to rip him to pieces. That mother fucker!_ **

“But I’m not here to brag. You four will be sent somewhere safe. The government wasn’t the only one funding my research. I still have a few little places where I can work. I’m going to stay here and make sure your other halves agree to come along nicely. But don’t worry, we’ll see each other very soon.”

The hostages were loaded into an armoured truck. The doors slammed and locked behind them. 

_ We’re in a truck, they’re moving us. They want to ambush you so don’t go back to the base. _

**_Try and keep track of which direction you’re going. Geoff and I are in the air, we’ll see if we can find you._ **

Jeremy rolled so he could sit upright. Michael was swearing up a storm and Gavin was spouting British gibberish. Jack was calm, she had her eyes closed and was concentrating on something, Jeremy assumed her connection with Geoff the way he was talking to Ryan.

Jack opened her eyes as the truck rumbled to life.

_ We were on the West side of the building, so I think we’re headed that way first _ .

“Gavin, Michael, shut up for a second.” The two other lads stopped complaining and looked at Jack. “Jeremy, you’re keeping Ryan updated?” He nodded. “Good, keep at it. Okay, so, something the two of you don’t know about soulmates is that a in a really deep bond the pairs can hear each other’s thoughts as well as feel emotion.”

“Holy shit!” Exclaimed Michael. “Why the hell are you only telling us this now?” 

_ We just turned right _

**_Right. Got it._ **

Jack answered, “Because we haven’t heard of anyone else being able to do it until Jeremy and Ryan. I don’t know if it just happens with stress or if Edgars is somehow unlocking it. But what I do know is that if he is, it's completely by accident. Even now with this little villain monologue he didn’t mention it and he hasn’t done anything to stop it.”

_ I’m not sure, but I think we just went over the Railway tracks. _

**_Oh shit, okay, you guys are moving fast._ **

“How can he stop it?” asked Gavin.

“Drugs. He would need to sedate us or knock us out. What I think he’s doing is making us panicked and upset so that Geoff and Ryan will rush back to the base to see what happened. But Jeremy and I already warned them. They’re in the helicopter on the way here.”

_ We’re going up hill now, I can feel it. It’s pretty steep. Oh shit, I think we just hit a dirt road.  _

**_You’re headed to Chiliad! We’ll try and cut you off in the back roads._ **

“I can’t believe Felix was a bloody mole. What an arsehole!”

“I know right! He played that little damsel in distress role a litle too well.”

**_I think I see you guys!_ ** Just as Ryan said that Jeremy heard the faint  _ thump thump _ of helicopter blades.

“Guys, they’re here!” Jeremy told the group, interrupting their conversation. 

**_You guys are going too fast. You need to slow down the van if this is going to work_ ** **.**

_ If what is going to work? _

**_Just trust me!_ **

_ Oh god, Ryan, what are you planning? _

“Guys, we need to slow down the van!”

“How?”

“I donno. A distraction?”

After a very minimal discussion the whole crew started shouting as loud as they could and kicking the walls of the truck. They felt it swerve so they continued. Suddenly a loud boom brought the vehicle skidding to a stop. Another boom had them all shaking. 

_ Fucking rockets Ryan?! _

**_Hey, it’s working! I don’t see why you’re complaining_ ** _**!** _

_ Because if one of those misses you could kill us all! _

**_True, lets not do that then._ **

_ Oh my god _

Shouting and gunfire was heard outside the truck. Suddenly someone was at the back door, forcing it open. The crew tensed, but it was Ryan and Geoff at the door. They quickly removed everyone’s handcuffs and they stumbled out of the truck. Jeremy saw the bodies of the two soldiers and in front of the truck was a landslide caused by the helicopter’s missiles. 

Ryan came up to Jeremy and tilted his face up, just so they could look in each other’s eyes for a moment, before pulling him into a hug. Ryan’s relief mixing with his own after the panic of the last hour. 

“So boss,” asked Michael, “What’s the plan?”

Geoff straightened up and Jeremy watched him switch from concerned to professional. “Okay. So this is an unexpected problem for sure. Edgars was able to get way too much information about us and we have to assume a lot of our secrets have been compromised. Anything that Felix has touched has to be off limits. That includes B-team. We warned them all to go off the grid before we tossed our own phones. However, Edgars doesn’t know a lot of stuff, including the telepathy -”

“Yeah, fucking  _ we _ didn’t even know that! What the hell!” Michael interjected

“We don’t talk about it much, and hey look, aren’t you glad about that now, asshole!” snapped Geoff. “Anyway, he doesn’t know that we’ve been, and can continue to, communicate without him listening in. By now he probably knows that the truck was attacked, but he won’t know the details or that we’re all together. He also hasn’t had a chance to touch the chopper, so we'll assume that it’s clean. We have a stash not too far from here with weapons and a couple armoured cars. There is a chance that Edgars knows about it, but the rescue would hopefully have been too unexpected and his resources too thin for him to have it locked down. So lets get there, see what we can get, and then plan our next steps.”

The helicopter had landed a little ways down the mountain on a clear slope. Jack would be the pilot with Gavin in the cockpit next to her working the high tech surveillance controls. The rest of them were strapped into the back.

It wasn’t a long ride to get to the stash, which wasn’t much more than a seeming abandoned building on the edge of the desert. They had plenty of space to land and the helicopter would even stay hidden from prying eyes. There was no signs that anyone had been here recently or that there was anyone watching. The crew went inside and started gearing up for a fight. 

Geoff and Jack were discussing what the next steps could be as they were getting ready, their conversation too quick for him to follow right now. He was also pretty sure they were half talking through thoughts. Jeremy focused on putting on body armour and filling his pockets with ammo.

When everyone was ready they gathered around the garage. 

“Alright Lads and Gents, here’s the plan! Edgars determined to get us, he’s shown that much. I, for one, refuse to play his little game of cat and mouse. Jack and I don’t think he’s going to retreat and lay low, not yet anyway, not while he thinks he has the upper hand. Jack, Gavin: you’re going to take the ‘copter and get some eyes in the sky. Gavin, see what that tech is capable of, god knows we paid enough for it. You can tell your findings to Jack and she’ll pass it on to me. Michael, Ryan: you’re going to go in loud. Try to take out and draw out as many of Edgars’s guns as you can. The base is low priority, you can wreck that thing if you need to, but try not get into populated areas of the city, and watch out if the police decide they need to be involved. Ryan, you contact Jeremy with any issues. Jeremy, you and I are going to sneak in and try to execute Edgars. I doubt the fight will last long with him gone, and I don’t want to wait for another chance to get my hands on him. The two of us will also need to play a fucked up version of broken telephone to make sure all three teams get the info they need. Sound good?”

Jeremy nodded determinedly. He and Geoff were going to take bikes. Small and quiet, they would be able to sneak through tight gaps in the twisting labyrinth that surrounded the warehouse. 

The copter team got into position first, they were high enough not to be seen or heard, but Gavin could use the cameras to survey the militia’s position. Jeremy and Geoff were waiting nearby on their bikes. Geoff repeated Jack’s directions for Jeremy to pass on to Ryan. 

_ They’ve used their cars to block the roads to the warehouse. Looks like they know we’re coming. There might have been twenty people who attacked us but Gavin says there are enough cars to fit closer to fifty so you’re way out numbered. Most of them look like they’re in cover on the West side, but there’s a few on the East too. Wait for Geoff and I to be in position. _

**_We’ve got this. Stay safe._ **

_ You too, pal. _

They didn’t need to say  _ I love you _ , not when they could feel the other person’s love and concern through the connection. 

Geoff and Jeremy moved up until they could see the base. They saw three guards in cover, keeping lookout for anything suspicious. 

“If we take them out quietly we can slip inside and see if we can find Edgars or flank the other side.” Geoff grinned wildly at Jeremy. “Time for a distraction.”

_ You’re good to go. _

A beat or two of silence then  _ BOOM _ . Jeremy felt the faint rumble from an explosive going off. The gunfire that followed was loud in the night. The guards on this side didn’t react. Jeremy heard the helicopter getting closer, Gavin would need proximity to get into the comm lines. They were hoping to reverse the bug that Felix must have planted to spy on Edgars’s team. That was the nice thing about tech, it didn’t pick sides. 

Suddenly Geoff swore, “Fuck, Rocket launcher pointed at the chopper. On Ryan’s 10, ‘bout 14 feet.”

_ Take out the guy 14 feet from you on your 10. _

Another boom followed.

**_Did I get ‘im?_ **

“Direct hit!”

_ Yup! _

**_Nice! More people came out of the building. I think they’re nice and distracted._ **

“Ryan says we can go.”

Geoff and Jeremy moved up more. They lined up their shots and took two of them down at once. Jeremy turned and fired at the third. They exchanged bullets, Geoff taking over when he needed to reload, and eventually shooting the guy when he had to do the same. They crept closer to the door when they heard the cackle of a radio. Jeremy was quick to turn towards the sound and fire. 

“Fuck, they got an alarm off.” said Jeremy, crouching into cover in case more came out of the building.

“Gavin wants us to boost the radio signal, see if he can find it.”

They moved to one of the bodies, Jeremy watching the doors and windows, Geoff following Jack’s instructions. He must have done it right because he cheered. They waited a moment then Geoff said, “Okay, they aren’t coming to our side. They’re focusing on Michael and Ryan.”

They snuck towards the door and carefully opened it. Like in a police drama they scanned each room until they were sure it was clear, holding their guns and flashlights out in front of them. 

Jeremy peeked around a corner when his gun was smashed from his hands. Before he could react a body tackled him to the ground. They tussled but then the attacker laughed. “Jeremy! Awww sweetheart why does it have to be this way.” Felix’s voice was insincere. “I love you Jeremy” he simpered, “Please don’t do this.”

“You  _ Mother FUCKER!” _ Jeremy shouted and redoubled his efforts. 

“The best part is how easily you believed me. You must be so full of shit to think people would be falling over themselves to be with you. It wouldn’t be for your looks, that’s for sure. I can’t tell you how glad I am the Boss’s plan didn’t work. Can you imagine being stuck bonded with you?”

“Shut up! I bet you didn’t even have a dog, you creep!” Jeremy was pinned now but one hand was free and he was using it to try and get a fist in Felix’s smarmy face. 

Felix’s hands closed around his neck. He leaned in to taunt, “Nah, I hate the mangy beasts, but it helped with the sob story. And it worked like a charm, don’t you think? You were thick enough to believe it at any rate. And for not realizing the guards were letting us escape. Did you really think it would be that easy to get out without inside help?”

He saw Geoff come up behind them and pistol whip Felix’s temple. The soldier fell off him and Jeremy grabbed Geoff’s gun and shot Felix in the neck above the body armour.

“Goddamn good riddance.” Jeremy spat, massaging his throat. 

“Damn right it -” He cut off suddenly. “There’s a group breaking off and circling. They might be getting behind Michael and Ryan.”

_ Watch behind you! They’re trying to flank. _

“Tell them to get to the alley on their left and see if they can surprise them.”

Jeremy repeated this to Ryan.

“Fuck, no their  _ other _ left.”

“This is making my head hurt.” But he sent the thought to Ryan. 

**_Maybe left and right isn’t very helpful when it’s coming from a helicopter._ ** Gripped Ryan. 

_ Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! _

**_Lucky for you I have enough people out here to shoot._ **

Geoff and Jeremy continued through the building. When they got to the delivery bay they finally spotted Edgars. He had two guards with him who ran, firing at Jeremy and Geoff. It seemed like they were still under orders not to kill them, because they were aiming down and not at their heads. The Fakes had no such orders. Soon, however, the attackers were on top on them and it turned into a fist fight. Jeremy was hard pressed to fight off his opponent, not having military hand to hand training in his skill set. 

He still had enough awareness to see Edgars disappear out the loading dock. “Geoff, he’s getting away!” he called as he dodged a fist. 

Unfortunately that distracted the leader, who took a hard fist to the face. Jeremy watched as Geoff staggered backwards and spit out a tooth but had to focus back on his own fight before he could go help. To his relief he saw Geoff recover and block the next blow. 

In the end it was the fact that the soldiers weren’t aiming to kill that won them the fight. Jeremy knocked out his opponent with a brutal fist to the nose and Geoff pulled out a knife and stabbed his in the neck. 

They didn’t get a moment to rest before Geoff said, “Come on, Gavin has eyes on Edgars. He’s on foot, we can catch him on the bikes.” They sprinted to where they had left the bikes.

As they ran Geoff gave orders.“Tell Ryan to get himself and Michael out of there. They did their part, now they need to get safe, Jack says police are incoming too. Fucking finally, they must have been paid off to have waited this long. Get back to the weapons stash, we’ll all meet there.”

Jeremy passed it on and Ryan acknowledged the instructions. He got to his bike and kicked it into gear, tearing down the street after Geoff. With Jack’s directions they soon found Edgars. He lead them on a wild chase through the streets.

Eventually Edgars turned into an alley Jeremy knew was a dead end. He and Geoff were still hot on his heels. He realized his mistake too late, and when he turned the Fakes were blocking his escape. Jeremy watched as he searched frantically for a way out, eyes fixing on a fire ladder above a dumpster. Edgars sprinted for it, climbing up, only to fall when Geoff fired a bullet into his ankle. They advanced on him as he dragged himself backwards, but he was the type who always had to get the last word in.

“Geoffrey, I know why you’re upset! But there are things I never told you. If you kill me you’ll never know. Starting with who I’m really working for. Don’t you want to know who’s going to come after you next? Plus you’ll never understand your connection if you kill me. Don’t you want to know-” 

He was abruptly cut off with a bullet through his skull. Geoff crouched down to the leaking body and growled. “I don’t give a fuck what you had to say. Not now, not in the past. Your research means shit to me.” He stood and spat blood from his injury onto the body and turned towards Jeremy. “Come on, let’s go back to the others.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! Just a couple things:
> 
> 1\. This got long, so I'm tacking on the actual ending an a cute little epilogue to the next chapter. 
> 
> 2\. Trying to get that one-sided telepathic conversation fight to make sense killed me. I will never do that again oh my god. Please tell me it made sense and actually flowed nicely! Or if I need to fix it.
> 
> 3\. I may or may not have been writing this at work and the internet went down. I wandered away from my desk and when I got back the IT guy was at my computer because it is the closest to the router. He was checking to see if the wifi was back up but I have *no idea* if I left the fic open or if he saw one of my tabs was just labeled Fan Fics. I'll let you know if I get a nice letter from HR about proper internet use. Kill me.


	8. Chapter 8

As soon as Jeremy and Geoff stepped into the hideout they could smell it. 

“Are we fucking the Avengers or something, who the fuck stopped for shawarma?!”

“Geoff, are you gonna complain, or are you gonna eat the garlic potatoes?”

“...You got garlic potatoes?”

Michael flashed his trademark wicked smirk and pushed a styrofoam container towards the boss.

Jeremy laughed as Geoff moaned at the greasy garlic taste and grabbed himself one of the wrapped bundles. He moved to sit beside Ryan and curled into his side. Ryan curled an arm around him and they ate in silence for a few minutes. 

It was Gavin, of course, who broke the peace. “So Geoff. How does it feel to have finally got the bad guy?”

“Gavin, it feels even better than the damn potatoes.” He sighed and wiped his hands on a napkin. “I dunno dude. It hasn’t really sunk in that it’s over yet.”

Jack came to sit on the arm of the couch beside Geoff. “It isn’t quite over yet though. We’ve got a butt tonne of clean up to do, and then there’s the diamond heist.”

Geoff hummed. “Do you think we can go ahead with that or has Edgars wrecked it for us.”

Gavin spoke up from his seat on the floor. “I can get Matt to help me check and see the status of that. We’ll let you know.”

The team leaders nodded.

Michael was the next one with a question. “What then though? Are we just gonna...Stop?” He looked around at the group. Jeremy and Ryan looked at each other. Jack was looking at Geoff who was staring at the floor.

“Nah boi, we’ve got a reputation now! And connections! Burnie can hook us up with more jobs after. How ‘bout it?”

“I’d be down.” said Jeremy. Ryan nodded, a wild grin on his face. “Yeah, we’re in.”

“Are you sure though? You guys would want to stick around?” Geoff’s voice was filled with worry.

“What you’re not trying to get rid of us now are you?” Challenged Michael.

“No, I just… you guys all had good things going in your solo careers, wouldn’t you want to -”

“Nah, this has been way more fun!”

“Yeah,” agreed Ryan. “It’s nice to have a team watching my back.”

Jack shook her head. “Never thought I’d hear the Mad King saying  _ that _ . And especially not about us.”

Ryan shrugged. “As Michael said, this is too much fun.”

“So what, we’re just going to form some kind of...Heist crew? Like Ocean’s 8?”

Everyone was grinning, full of excitement. Jeremy grabbed one of the cans of pop that came with the food. He held it up in a toast. “To the Fakes! The most badass crew in the city!”

The rest of them cheered and mashed their own drinks together.

Clean up took a while. Their warehouse had been set on fire at some point after Geoff and Jeremy left but before the police could arrive on the scene. Gavin and Matt hacked into the police department’s records and discovered that not only did they not get any information about who was involved in the shooting, they also hadn’t found any bodies. 

The criminal underground knew the Fake’s were involved and it only added to their reputation, but no one knew who cleaned up the bodies or paid for Edgars and his men to get involved in the first place. 

The diamond company hadn’t been tipped off about the robbery plans as far as anyone in the crew could tell. They went through with the heist as planned, with added back up watching to see if anyone would take the bait an intervene. But the heist went off without a hitch. The crew already had experience taking out an armoured truck so the whole thing was seamless. They did end up going back to comms, deciding that the telepathy secret was too valuable to even reveal to B-team. 

And the jobs kept coming. They became part of a larger crime syndicate operated by Burnie and were the go-to team for infiltration and theft. Their diverse skills allowed them to break off into small teams if needed, and they always got the job done, if not exactly how the client expected. They were able to expand and purchase new safe houses, weapons, and vehicles. It was a thrill to be a part of. Geoff bought a bar, even though he decided to give up drinking. The crew worked there as their ‘official’ jobs, the ones you put on your tax forms, but it gave them a lot of flexibility, not to mention an alibi, when they had to do less than legal jobs at night. 

They didn’t forget that the threat of someone coming for them, but it just caused them to be more careful. Reminded them to look over their shoulders, put extra security in place just in case, and it served them well too many times to count. 

It never stopped being fun, working with his friends, getting to do absolutely ridiculous things and making enough money to do the things he enjoyed. The best part was that he could do it with  _ Ryan _ . His soul mate. Things between them weren’t magically perfect, there was still anxiety and insecurities to deal with. There are parts of their pasts that would never truly go away. But it was so much better to work through them with someone who could sympathise with you and help calm you down, show without a doubt that you were loved and cared for. 

And things were good. But Jeremy knew there was one more thing he needed to do. 

*****

Jeremy clutched the steering wheel with both hands. Ryan was in the seat beside him one hand gripping his shoulder reassuringly. 

“I’ll be right out here. If things go wrong we leave. You know you’ll feel better once you know, one way or another.” 

Jeremy signed and said, “You’re right. It’s just… hard. After how I left things.”

“You did what you had to do. She’ll understand, you just need to explain things, if not for her then for you. You’ve got this, you don’t need to worry.”

“Okay. Okay, I can do this.” He squared his shoulders and stepped out of the car. 

They weren’t parked in the driveway, or right out in front of the house. Jeremy knew it he would have to psych himself up and he didn’t want to do it in sight of the house when he did.

The walk still wasn’t long enough and he found himself outside the door before he knew it. He took a deep breath, knocked, and waited. 

The door opened and revealed a woman. Older than Jeremy remembered, but life is like that. They stared at each other for a few silent seconds that stretched into eternity. 

“Uh. Hi Mom.” Jeremy finally said.

Jeremy’s mother launched herself towards her long-lost son. She pulled him into a tight hug and sobbed into his shoulder. Jeremy caught her and hugged her back, relief flooding through him.

“I’m sorry!” She choked out. “Oh god, pumpkin I’m so sorry! I never should have let you run away, it’s all my fault I should been better.”

“Hey, no. I’m sorry too. I didn’t understand what was happening and I was so confused.” Jeremy led his mother into the familiar living room, gently pushing her onto the couch and sitting beside her. 

“But I should have been there to help! I should have listened better! What kind of mother am I to make my own son leave?! Oh god Jerry-berry I thought I would never see you again!”

“But I’m here now. I’m here now.”

This set her off again and it was a while before any words were said between them. 

When they could finally talk again she was full of questions for him. “But where did you go? Are you okay?”

“Yeah mom. I’ve been good.” More or less. “I have a good job that I love in Los Santos.” Job being a loose term. “I’m really happy now. I’m in a good place, so I wanted to come back and say sorry for running out like that.”

“Oh honey, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should’ve gotten you the help when you asked for it instead of living in my own dream world. I was wrong and I’m sorry.”

“You weren’t though. Not really. Both of us were right actually. My soulmate had a rough childhood, but we’re both getting help now.”

Jeremy’s mother’s face lit up with joy. “Your -! You found her?”

“I found  _ him. _ ”

“Him?” There was a moment when Jeremy could see her waver, but in the end her love for her son won out. “Oh sweetheart! I’m so  _ happy _ for you! What’s he like? Does he make you happy?”

Jeremy smiled. “Yeah mom. He makes me really happy.”

“When can I meet the lucky fellow?”

“Uh, I can ask him to come in?”

“He’s here?! You made him wait outside?”

Jeremy was sheepish. “I didn’t know how things were going to go?”

Her reply was cut short by a knock on the door, which opened to reveal Ryan. “Hello Ma’am.” Ryan was laying his Georgia accent on thick, trying to play up the southern charm. 

“Don’t you ‘ma’am’ me young man. You’ll call me Monica and nothing else.”

Ryan smiled. “Thank you. It is very nice to meet you. You have a wonderful home.”

They ended up ordering pizza, since no one wanted to cook and there was too much to be said for a restaurant. They spent the night catching up with each other. Jeremy and Ryan pretended to be nothing more than the bartender and bouncer at Geoff’s bar, not mentioning their other line of work. The Jack and Geoff story did come up, but they both decided to play dumb about it. Saying they heard it on the news and gossiped about what it could mean. 

They stayed up talking late into the night, but eventually they started getting tired. Jeremy went to get their things out of the trunk since his mother insisted they stay the night. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them so soon. 

When he came back all the heard was Ryan telling his mother. “I promise.”

“Promise what babe?” He asked as Ryan looped an arm around his waist and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

“Never you mind!” Said his mother at the same time Ryan said “She was giving me the shovel talk.”

Jeremy laughed, picturing his tiny mother threatening the Vagabond.

“None of that now! You boys get some sleep!”

It was surreal being back in his childhood bedroom. His mother hadn’t changed anything, but it had been kept clean. It was obvious she had always expected him back some day, and it made his heart ache thinking about it. 

He was looking at some of his old sports trophies on his dresser when Ryan came up behind him. He wrapped his arms around Jeremy’s middle and kissed his temple. Jeremy relaxed into Ryan’s arms.

“So how do you feel?”

“You know how I feel.”

Jeremy could feel the taller man chuckle against his back. “Always. But I’m giving you an opening to talk about it.”

“I know you are, you goof.” Jeremy turned and gave him a quick kiss. “It is weird being back. But I’m glad we did this.”

“Me too.” 

And he kissed him again, but this time it wasn’t quick.

They stayed in Boston for a week. Jeremy showed Ryan around all of the places that were special to him as a child and got in touch with a few friends he hadn’t seen in years. Jeremy’s mother told Ryan all the embarrassing stories from his childhood. When they finally left she promised to come see them in Los Santos and they agreed to come back for Christmas. 

As they passed the  _ Welcome to Los Santos _ sign they got a text from Gavin telling them to come to the airfield so they directed their course there before going home since it was on the way. When they got there they spotted the crew, but there was no aircraft in sight. Instead everyone was gathered around some motorcycles. 

“Hey guys! Jeremy called. “New toys?”

“You better believe it!” yelled Jack enthusiastically from where she was sitting on a bike. “Watch this!” and with that little wings popped out the side and she took off with a bust of flame, skimming the ground before taking off into the air.

Jeremy and Ryan’s jaws dropped. “Are those…”

“Rocket bikes ba-beeee!” Singsonged Michael.

“Oh my god…” Said Ryan, a look of awe in his face as he went to caress the body of the nearest bike. 

Jeremy turned to Michael. “Someone’s gonna die.”

“Ten dollars says it’s Gavin.”

“Wot?!”

“Nah, suckers bet.”

“WOT!!?”

It was good to be home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeyyyooo! We’ve come to the end again. There *may* be a sequel where the mystery person comes after them, but that is a low priority for me. I want to finish up the few incomplete ones that I need to first, and then I’m more likely to move onto a different story all together. 
> 
> As I was finishing this I found my brainstorming paper. I managed to get most of my ideas into this, but I do have one note that just says "Gavin and Ryan are soulmates who can see what the other person is looking at. Gavin draws things on Post-its and stares at them to annoy Ryan." So maybe expect that in the future?
> 
> Thank you to everyone who commented and left kudos, I appreciate every one <3


End file.
